Arvind Kejriwal celebrates bail order, calls liquor scam “bogus”

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal lashed out at the BJP in a tweet, labelling the liquor scam as “false” after a court granted bail to two accused in the case. 

In an order issued by Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue court in Delhi, stated that the evidence collected at the time of evidence was “not sufficient” to reach a conclusion. The court also pointed towards a lack of cash evidence of bribes or repayment of kickbacks and stated that cash payments could not be labelled bribes based on vague statements of witnesses. 

“The whole liquor scam is false. We were saying it from beginning. Now even courts have started saying it. It's a desperate measure by BJP to malign an honest party like AAP," Kejriwal tweeted out. 

In a press conference held shortly after the order was issued, AAP member Atishi Marlena dissected 30 Cr accusations placed against AAP and gave a rundown of the court order. Kejriwal tweeted once again in support, reiterating his stance of the liquor scam being a conspiracy to malign AAP, calling the scam “bogus”. 

The BJP alleged that the AAP was “misleading” and twisting the nature of the bail order in an attempt to appear favourable. Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi stated that AAP’s portrayal of the bail order as a case judgement was “misleading”. 

“The bail order has been portrayed as to be an order that there is no scam and no wrong has been done. Reading the court’s bail order in parts, they have tried to mislead people once again,” Lekhi said.

These developments came mere days after the Central Bureau of Investigation named  AAP leader Manish Sisodia in its supplementary chargesheet and opposed his interim bail in High Court, stating that he misled the court by hiding relevant facts on his wife’s medical condition in an attempt to get bail. 

Manish Sisodia was arrested by the agency in February following an eight-hour investigation. The former Deputy CM was charged under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 477 A (intent to defraud) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.