Excise policy case: Arvind Kejriwal sent to judicial custody till July 12

Kejriwal was produced in court by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after the expiry of his three-day custodial interrogation.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday remanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till July 12 in a case related to liquor scam case, rejecting a plea by him to disclose the materials collected by the Investigating Officer.

Kejriwal was produced before the court of vacation judge Sunena Sharma upon the end of three days of custodial interrogation.

Judge Sharma allowed a request made by the CBI to send him to the judicial custody.

He was formally arrested by the CBI on June 26.

Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari, appearing for Kejriwal, said that this was an investigation going on since August 2022.

He said Kejriwal was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 and granted interim bail by the Supreme Court for three weeks on May 10.

He further submitted that they (CBI) had collected some evidence in January and they got sanction against under the Prevention of Corruption Act in April.

The court observed that although it was court's obligation to oversee the steps taken by the Investigating Officer during the custody but it is between the court and the IO.

"These material can't be disclosed to accused. The court will definitely be satisfying itself on material to seek remand. But after the police custody expires, the court has no option but to remand accused to the judicial custody. There is no provision that court should reject IO's application to remand accused to judicial custody," the court observed.

Chaudhari, however, kept on insisting and sought a direction to CBI to place on record all the material collected, including the case diary, during his custodial interrogation.

Refusing to pass any order, the court told him, "you may leave these aspects for court to consider."

It, however, clarified that the accused can move application for bail as per the procedure.

Chaudhari said that if the CBI was unable to satisfy the court on first three counts, then the remand proceedings would be illegal.

He also asked the court to allow accused's wife, Sunita Kejriwal and family to meet him. The court allowed the plea by family to meet him inside the courtroom.