Arvind Kejriwal, 5 others issued summons as Delhi court takes cognizance of CBI’s 4th chargesheet naming CM as accused

The Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday took cognizance of the fourth supplementary chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) naming Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal as an accused in the case regarding the alleged irregularities in the formation and implementation of the now scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22.

The court issued summons to all six accused named in the chargesheet — Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur and P. Sarath Reddy. The court has now listed the matter on September 11.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja said there was sufficient evidence against CM Kejriwal and the other accused to proceed against them.

The judge issued a production warrant for Kejriwal and summoned Pathak for September 11.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a supplementary chargesheet against Kejriwal, Pathak, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur and Sarath Reddy.

The CBI informed the court last month that it had procured the requisite sanctions to prosecute Kejriwal and Pathak in the case.

The federal agency had earlier procured the sanctions to investigate them in the case.

Meanwhile, in a relief to former AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair, the Supreme Court on Monday granted him bail after nearly 23 months of incarceration in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, observing that liberty is "sacrosanct" and needs to be respected in cases involving even stringent laws.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti also relied upon the legal principle of "bail is rule and jail is exception" referred to by a bench headed by Justice B R Gavai while granting bail to AAP leader and former deputy chief Minister Manish Sisodia and and BRS leader K Kavitha in the same case.

Sisodia was granted bail on August 9 by the top court which also extended the same relief to Kavitha on August 27. However, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is yet to get it in the corruption case lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the main corruption case.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)