On Friday (12th July), the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case, filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the Delhi liquor policy scam.
The matter was heard by a 2-judge Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. The apex court noted that the AAP supremo raised certain legal questions in his bail application, which needs to be dealt with by a larger bench.
The Judges thereafter released Arvind Kejriwal on an interim bail. “Given that right to life is concerned and since matter is referred to larger bench, we direct Arvind Kejriwal to be released on interim bail,” the Supreme Court stated.
Supreme Court grants interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case.
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2024
The Apex Court refers his petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to a larger bench. pic.twitter.com/9s40JBWJhV
It must be mentioned that the AAP supremo was granted bail in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. However, he is in custody in connection to the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). As such, he will continue to remain in jail.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on 21st March this year and granted bail on June 1st. He made his way back to Tihar jail after the bail period was over.
Delhi Liquor policy scam case
At the heart of the controversy is the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022, which has been explained in 10 simple points.
- The liquor policy was first proposed in September 2020 but came into effect only in November 2021.
- It changed the manner in which alcohol was being sold in the National Capital. Introduced private players in the market and marked the exit of government-owned liquor vendors.
- Delhi was divided into 32 zones and a total of 27 private vendors were to ply in each zone. Every municipal ward had 2-3 liquor vendors operating in the area.
- Proposals such as home delivery of liquor, allowing liquor vendors to offer unlimited discounts, opening of stores till 3 am were also tabled before the Delhi Cabinet.
- The drastic policy change resulted in a 27% increase in government revenue to ₹8900 crores. At the same time, it marked the complete exit of the Delhi government from the liquor business.
- While the objective of Excise Policy 2021-2022 was to end black marketing and the liquor mafia, the Delhi government soon came under fire over allegations of corruption.
- Chief Secretary of Delhi, Naresh Kumar, found irregularities and procedural lapses in the new liquor policy. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI probe on the recommendation of Naresh Kumar.
- Manish Sisodia waived off ₹144.36 crores on the license fee, to be paid by the private liquor vendors, under the garb of the Coronavirus pandemic. Incurred loss to the Excise Department and benefitted liquor licensees by waiving the import pass fee of ₹50 per beer case.
- All these changes were made without the final approval of the Lieutenant Governor and thus considered illegal under the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010 and Transaction of Business Rules of 1993.
- Thus, the Delhi government made a U-turn on its new excise policy in July 2022. A month later, CBI booked Manish Sisodia, ex-Only Much Louder (OML) CEO Vijay Nair and 13 others in an FIR for irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022.
