Relief for Arvind Kejriwal; Court grants bail in liquor policy case

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal granted bail in the liquor policy case. The bail was granted by Delhi Rouse Avenue Court Judge Nyay Bindu. The trial court granted bail three months after his arrest. The stand of the trial court is to uphold Kejriwal's arguments in the bail application.

The court has made it clear that one lakh rupees should be posted as bail. The court also rejected the ED's request to stay the bail order. ED had alleged in the court that the accused, who was arrested earlier in the case, had paid Kejriwal's hotel bill in Goa and that he had collected huge sums of money from businessmen.

The ED argued that if the Aam Aadmi Party committed the wrongdoing, then the leader of that party is also guilty. But Kejriwal's lawyer argued that ED is making speculations as allegations. Kejriwal's lawyer also argued that bail should be given to discharge his responsibilities as Chief Minister.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED on March 21 at 9 pm. The arrest was made after two hours of questioning. The ED team reached Kejriwal's house with a warrant after the High Court rejected the plea to stay the arrest in the Delhi liquor policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party organized massive protests across the state regarding his arrest. The Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Kejriwal as part of the Lok Sabha election campaign.