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Kejriwal on Bail, AAP Rejoices; Atishi new CM of Delhi

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The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan on September 13 granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him. Kejriwal was arrested on June 26 by the CBI, before his hearing commenced in the Supreme Court for bail in the Enforcement Directorate’s case against him in the liquor policy scam. 

Following the conditions, Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister, and in his place Atishi Marlena has been made the Chief Minister. 

With his bail, the Aam Aadmi Party is rejoicing as earlier the apex court had given bail to the former Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP and senior leader of AAP, Sanjay Singh, besides, K. Kavitha, MLC and daughter of former Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao. The bail for these leaders, AAP says is vindication of their claim that the Centre had falsely implicated them. 

Bail conditions

The two judges delivered separate judgments, but agreed that Kejriwal satisfies the triple condition for the grant of bail. The judges said that as the chargesheet had been filed in the case and that the trial is unlikely to be completed in the near future, it granted him bail with the condition that he cannot visit the office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat. Importantly, he is not to comment on the case while on bail.

Justice Surya Kant said that there is no impediment in terms of arresting a person already in custody for the purposes of investigation, whether for the same offence or for an altogether different offence. The Appellant’s arrest by the CBI was thus entirely permissible, in light of the Trial Court’s order dated June 25, 2024. The judge said the evolution of bail jurisprudence in India underscores that the issue of bail is one of liberty, justice, public safety and burden of the public treasury, all of which insist that a developed jurisprudence of bail is integral to a socially sensitised judicial process. The judge added that Kejriwal will not make any public comment on merits of the case and that the conditions imposed in the Enforcement Directorate matter shall apply in this case also.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said in so far as the arrest of the appellant by the CBI is concerned, it raises more questions than it seeks to answer as for 22 months, the CBI did not arrest him but after the Special Judge grants regular bail to the appellant in the ED case, the CBI sought his custody. 

“In the circumstances, a view may be taken that such an arrest by the CBI was perhaps only to frustrate the bail granted to the appellant in the ED case.” The judge added the power to arrest is one thing but the need to arrest is altogether a different thing. “Just because an investigation agency has the power to arrest, it does not necessarily mean that it should arrest such a person.”

Justice Bhuyan said that the CBI should not be perceived as making the arrest in high-handed manner and must dispel the impression that it is a ‘caged parrot’ of the Central government.

The Judge said that the CBI, being the primary investigative agency, must not give any indication that the investigation was improperly conducted. Indeed, it is imperative to make every attempt to dispel any impression that the inquiry is not conducted impartially and that the arrest was made in an arbitrary and discriminatory way. 

Additionally, Justice Bhuyan said, “I have serious reservations on the conditions which bar Kejriwal from entering Secretariat or signing files, but I am not making comment due to judicial restraint as it was in a different ED case.”

Star campaigner

The Aam Aadmi Party which is celebrating Kejriwal’s return said that he will continue to oversee governance and work in Delhi “will not stop”. “Arvind Kejriwal is the chief minister of Delhi, who heads the council of ministers and oversees governance via ministers of various departments. He is fully empowered to give directions to all his ministers so that work can be done in public interest,” AAP said in a statement.

“The only files that are signed by the chief minister are those that have to be sent to the LG for which he has permission from Supreme Court. Therefore, no work of the people of Delhi will stop,” it added.

Several important policy decisions, including the flagship Mahila Samman Nidhi Yojana – a scheme to provide financial assistance of ₹1,000 to all women aged above 18 – which was announced in the Delhi budget this year; dearness allowance for daily wagers; Delhi Start-Up Policy; Dilli Bazaar Portal; Cloud Kitchen Policy; Food Truck Policy; City’s Logistics Plan; Delhi Electronic System Design, Manufacturing, and Refurbishment (ESDMR) Policy 2022-27; and Industrial and Economic Development Policy 2023–33 are ready and need approval of the cabinet which is headed by the CM.As AAP’s star campaigner, his release has come at an appropriate time for the party as it is contesting all seats in the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections.

Delhi Government to grant license for wholesale vends

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The Delhi Government has decided to grant license in form L1, L1F and L2 for the wholesale vend of Indian liquor in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi for the licensing year 2023-24 with effect from October 1, 2023.

The Excise Department has said that the prescribed forms can be obtained from its website and that there would be a processing fee of Rs. 5,000 for each license. The Department said that the terms and conditions for the licensing 2023-24 would be the same as that of 2022-23. The government said that it reserved the right to review the duties / fees to be paid / payable in case of any amendment to the law related to liquor and bonded warehouses.

The Department said that in case of existing licensees / registered brands active up to September 30, 2023 there is no change in the EDP / right structure / label / source warehouse etc. The registered brands for the year 2022-23 may be registered for 2023-24 on the same terms and conditions of the previous year, consequent to the payment of requisite fees and submission of undertaking / affidavit of the same.

It said that for new registration of brands applications received without complete information and supporting documents as required in the prescribed form along with annexures shall be liable to be rejected.

These changes are to ensure continuity of supply and the amendments will be in place till the new policy is formed. This will be third time the Delhi Government is giving the extension.

It may be mentioned here that the previous policy introduced in 2021 by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had to be scrapped as it ended up in scandal which is currently under investigation.

The excise department has proposed to extend the existing 2020-21 liquor policy by six months till March 31, 2024, to ensure the continuity of liquor supply. The excise department will issue a formal order in this regard.

Expert welcomes policy

Mr. Raju Vaziraney, one of the veterans of the wine and spirits sector and presently Adviser and Business Development Head of Amrut Distilleries, has welcomed the policy saying technically it is a new policy thereby allowing new companies to get registered and pay one-time fees and not fees from retrospective effect. The Companies will be encouraged to bring – in new brands, thus ensure more variety of brands, more consumer choice. However, he said the new policy gave only two days for companies to submit all documents.

However, he reiterated that the salient features are a) Existing Licences to be renewed by giving an undertaking / affidavit; Existing licences are renewed till March 31, 2024; Existing brands with existing EDPs to continue till March 31, 2024; Existing brands to pay proportionate fees of six months and not  18 months as was the practise in the policy of 2022-23.

In order to ensure continuity of supplies the online transparent system worked overnight & supplies commenced from October 3, 2023. However in view of paucity of time lot of prominent brands are under process of being made available. Mr. Vaziraney said that however, the challenges are that Delhi will have to wait till six more months to get a full-term year policy with possible participation of private trade thereby offering a great buying experience. The vends at the airport could also open next year as presently a world class city like Delhi does not have any vends at the airports

It is expected that Delhi will have a full year policy which will bring-in consumer choice brands and also bring – in reforms in terms of more liquor stores, more in trade outlets, he added.