Delhi excise policy case: Court extends judicial custody of CM Arvind Kejriwal till Sept 25

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A local court on Wednesday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Durgesh Pathak in a corruption case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), news agency PTI reported.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja also extended the judicial custody of Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal till September 25 in the Delhi excise policy case. The judge passed the order after the accused appeared before the court in pursuance to its earlier order.

On September 3, the judge had taken cognisance of the charge sheet against CM Arvind Kejriwal, Pathak and others, and stated that there was sufficient evidence to proceed against them in the Delhi excise policy case.

The judge had issued a production warrant for CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is lodged in judicial custody, and summoned Pathak on Wednesday. CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet against Kejriwal, Pathak, and other accused: Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur and Sarath Reddy a few weeks ago. In August, the central agency informed the court that it had obtained the requisite sanctions to prosecute Kejriwal and Pathak in the Delhi excise policy case. CBI claimed that the money generated from the alleged excise scam was spent as per the wishes of Kejriwal, who promised Rs 90 lakh to each candidate of his party in the 2022 Goa Assembly elections.

The agency had made the submission while urging the court to take cognisance of the charge sheet. It also claimed that co-accused and former AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair was appointed by Kejriwal to negotiate a deal with the 'South Group' comprising Telangana-based Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, as well as Raghav Magunta, Arun Pillai, Butchibabu Gorantla, P Sarath Reddy, Abhishek Boinpally and Benoy Babu. All of them have now been named co-accused in the case.

According to CBI, the 'South Group' is a cartel of entrepreneurs and politicians who gave kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore to AAP, which is in power in Delhi, in return for liquor licences and modifying the now-scrapped excise policy to benefit them.

It further alleged that Pathak was appointed as the party in-charge for the Goa elections and the money received through kickbacks was spent on his instructions. All the transactions involving the election expenses were made in cash, CBI alleged.

(With PTI inputs)