On Friday (13th September), the Supreme Court of India granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection to the liquor policy scam case.
The development came more than three months after he surrendered to the authorities at the Tihar jail. The court noted that the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister was valid and that there was no illegality on the part of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail after the apex court noted that the trial is unlikely to be completed in the immediate future. On the other hand, the CBI had opposed the bail application, citing the possibility of tampering with evidence.
Big Relief for Arvind Kejriwal, gets bail in Delhi Liquorgate case. #SC #ArvindKejriwal #KejriwalBailHearing #ITVideo #IndiasAgenda | @srishtiojha11 @Nalinisharma_ @snehamordani pic.twitter.com/66FCdrscR5
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) September 13, 2024
The central agency demanded that the case be heard by the trial court. It must be mentioned that Arvind Kejriwal did not stand trial in the lower court and had directly approached the Delhi High Court.
In the end, the Supreme Court ruled that Arvind Kejriwal satisfied all conditions required to secure bail. The Delhi CM has however been directed to appear before the trial court, surrender his passport and refrain from making public statements about the case.
This comes as a setback, given that Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders were planning to use the Delhi liquor policy case for their political vendetta ahead of the Haryana and Delhi elections.
Kejriwal has also been barred from leaving the country. All restrictions that were imposed on him while being granted interim bail in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case continue to him.
Having said that, no conditions have been imposed that can prevent Kejriwal for taking over the position of the Delhi Chief Minister.
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.
