Delhi HC Reserves Order on Kejriwal Bail Plea; Singhvi Mentions Former Pak PM Imran's Name

Kejriwal's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, putting forth his arguments before the Delhi High Court on the CBI case in the alleged excise policy scam, said that in Pakistan, former PM Imran Khan was released in one case and then immediately jailed in another case. Singhvi said that such incidents should not happen in India. CBI counsel argued that the agency has every right to call anyone familiar with the case.

New Delhi :During the hearing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea in the CBI case in the Delhi High Court in the alleged liquor scam, Kejriwal's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned former Pakistan PM Imran Khan's name in his arguments. Singhvi said in the court that three days ago we saw that Imran Khan was released in Pakistan, and he was again arrested in another case.

"We read it in the newspapers but we can proudly say that our country is not like that, this cannot happen in our country," Singhvi said. At the same time, after hearing the arguments, the court reserved the decision. Judge Neena Bansal Krishna said that the decision on bail will be taken after the court pronounces its verdict on the petition against Kejriwal's arrest. The decision on his bail may come on July 29. There was a heated debate between the two parties in the court on Wednesday.

Kejriwal is a CM, not a terrorist:Singhvi told the court that "Arvind Kejriwal is a Chief Minister, not a terrorist that he should not get bail. The dates prove that there was no need for arrest. It was only an insurance arrest. The Supreme Court has clearly stated in its order that interrogation cannot be the basis for arrest. This is not a post office system. An application was filed on June 25 for Arvind's arrest. The trial court allowed the arrest on only one ground."

Special Public Prosecutor D P Singh, arguing on behalf of CBI, said that the use of the term insurance arrest is not justified and, as an investigating agency, the CBI has its right to decide when to file a chargesheet against which accused and at what time to call which accused. "Singhvi has coined the term insurance arrest on his own, which is inappropriate. The CBI had summoned him (Kejriwal) under Section 160, but this section is not for witnesses. It can be used against any person familiar with the facts of the case. It can be anyone," he said.

Singhvi argued that the CBI's only motive was that Kejriwal should not come out of jail under any circumstances and the agency did not give any reason for the arrest, without notice, without hearing, the arrest was allowed. He said that Kejriwal's arrest by CBI was unnecessary, the case dates are crying foul and Supreme Court Justice Sanjeev Khanna has clearly stated in his order that interrogation cannot be the basis for arrest.

Singhvi said, "Articles 21 and 22 were ignored in this case, the only ground in this case was that he was not responding, the CBI did not give any grounds for arrest in its application."

The High Court had issued a notice to the CBI while hearing the petition on July 2. Arvind Kejriwal has got bail from the Supreme Court in the ED case. On June 26, the Rouse Avenue Court had sent Kejriwal to CBI custody for three days. Rouse Avenue Court's duty judge Amitabh Rawat had said that Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI was not illegal. Later on June 29, Kejriwal was sent to judicial custody after being arrested by the CBI.

CBI claimed to have evidence:On June 26, during Kejriwal's appearance in Rouse Avenue Court, CBI lawyer DP Singh told the court that there were statements of many witnesses that a person met Kejriwal regarding the Delhi Excise Policy, this happened even before the policy was made. DP Singh mentioned the statements of Magunta Reddy and the South Group advised how to prepare the Excise Policy.