CBI gets Delhi L-G’s sanction to prosecute Kejriwal in excise case

Once the court takes cognizance of the CBI’s supplementary chargesheet that names him as an accused, charges will be framed against Kejriwal. He has been in judicial custody ever since March after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case linked to the excise policy.

On June 26, the CBI placed him under “formal” arrest in the corruption case it is probing separately. On Friday, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on Kejriwal’s bail plea and gave the CBI a week to respond.

Official sources said the CBI had approached the Lt Governor’s Secretariat on July 28  for sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sanction was granted this month.

Kejriwal has been named as an accused in chargesheets filed by both CBI and ED in cases related to the excise policy which has since been scrapped.

The probe agencies have claimed that the CM was “directly involved in the formulation” of the excise policy which was drafted “considering the favours to be granted to the ‘South Group’ which secured uninhibited access, undue favours, attained stakes in established wholesale businesses, and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy)”.

While Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the ED’s alleged money laundering case, he remains in judicial custody in the CBI case.