JULY 29, 2024 - The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's regular bail plea in the CBI case concerning the excise policy. Senior advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, opposed the CBI's suggestion that Kejriwal should seek bail from the trial court.

Advocate DP Singh, representing the CBI, informed the court that a chargesheet had been filed against Kejriwal and others in the trial court. Singhvi countered that simply filing a chargesheet does not automatically disqualify Kejriwal from bail. 

The CBI argued that new evidence implicating Kejriwal had been discovered. Among the six individuals named in the chargesheet, five have not been arrested yet. CBI counsel stated that IAS officer C Aravind testified to Vijay Nair bringing a copy of the excise policy to be entered into a computer while Kejriwal was present, indicating his direct involvement.

In his defense, Singhvi highlighted that Kejriwal has been granted bail thrice in the related ED case, and since his CBI arrest, there have been no new developments. He argued that there is no direct evidence against Kejriwal and questioned why only Vijay Nair, central to the case, was granted bail previously. 

Singhvi also pointed out that if Kejriwal's signing of the excise policy implicates him, then the same logic should apply to the Lieutenant Governor and 50 other bureaucrats, including the Chief Secretary, who also signed it.

Responding to Singhvi, Special Public Prosecutor DP Singh claimed that the Lieutenant Governor's role was not one of approval and stated that the officers involved had manipulated the process. Singhvi further criticized the CBI's focus on AAP's ₹4 crore publicity expenditure, contrasting it with the ruling party's much larger spendings. The High Court's decision on Kejriwal's bail plea is now awaited.