NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday moved the Delhi High Court to challenge his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy case.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo also challenged a Delhi court's June 26 order that sent him to three-day custody.
The Delhi court sent him to judicial custody till July 12 after his three-day custody ended on Saturday. The court said that Kejriwal's name had surfaced as one of the "main conspirators" in the excise policy case.
The CBI had sought 14-day judicial custody of Kejriwal, who was accused by the agency of not cooperating with the investigation and went on to claim that the Delhi CM deliberately gave evasive replies.
The agency, in its remand plea, also expressed serious concerns that he might attempt to influence witnesses and evidence already exposed before him during the custodial interrogation and also the potential witnesses who are yet to be examined.
Arvind Kejriwal, who was initially arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 over allegations of money laundering in the Delhi Excise Policy case, was again arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail.
"Considering the fact that the conspiracy alleged against the accused (Kejriwal) involves a large number of persons who were involved in the formulation and implementation of excise policy and also the persons who acted as facilitators in the use of ill-gotten money, I find that there exist sufficient grounds for remanding the accused to judicial custody," special judge Sunena Sharma said.
The judge said the agency required custodial interrogation of Kejriwal to "confront him with more material likely to be collected during the investigation".
ALSO READ: ‘Dharmendra Pradhan has taken moral responsibility for NEET issue’ Says BJP Leader Shazia Ilmi
ALSO WATCH: