Excise case: Delhi HC to hear plea against Arvind Kejriwal's bail in Jan, 2025
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday posted on January 17, 2025, the enforcement directorate's plea against the bail granted to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the 2021-22 excise policy-linked money laundering case.
The ED counsel urged Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri to defer the hearing in the matter on account of the unavailability of additional solicitor general S V Raju.
The request was opposed by senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary, representing the AAP leader, citing "pressing urgency" in the matter.
Chaudhary said the agency should withdraw its plea and the court should vacate its stay on the operation of the trial court's order granting bail.
"You can't have a sword hanging on my head," he said.
The ED counsel, however, said Kejriwal was already on bail pursuant to an order passed by the Supreme Court.
On July 12, the top court granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case while referring to a larger bench three questions on the aspect of "need and necessity of arrest" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On June 20, Kejriwal was granted bail by a trial court on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh, which was subsequently stayed by the high court.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED and the CBI on March 21 and June 26, respectively, in the money laundering and corruption cases.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi Lieutenant Governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.
According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.
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Illegally stored gas cylinders seized
Thane (PTI): Authorities have seized illegally stored 1,839 gas cylinders and seven vehicles worth over Rs 67 lakh in the Dombivli MIDC area of Thane district, officials said on Saturday.
A special vigilance team of the Mumbai Rationing Department detected an illegal storage of domestic and commercial LPG cylinders in Phase-2 of Dombivli (East).
Cylinders belonging to multiple gas agencies were found stockpiled in closed vehicles, unauthorised warehouses, and open sheds without mandatory permissions from the Explosives Department, Fire Department, or oil companies, according to an official release.
