The special CBI court that denied relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case has said that on the basis of material on record, it cannot be said at this stage that the arrest is illegal, but warned that the probe agency should not be “overzealous”.

Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to CBI’s custody for three days — two less than what the agency had asked for. He was arrested by the CBI inside the Rouse Avenue court. Earlier, the Rouse Avenue court had granted him bail, but the Delhi High Court paused it and reserved its order. Mr Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court, but got no relief. The high court thereafter denied him bail.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s wife has alleged that the “whole system” is trying to ensure he stays in jail. “Arvind Kejriwal got bail on June 20. Immediately ED got a stay. The very next day CBI made him an accused. And today he was arrested. The whole system is trying to ensure that the man does not come out of jail. This is not law. This is dictatorship, this is emergency,” Sunita Kejriwal said in a post on ‘X’.

In its order for a three-day CBI custody, the Rouse Avenue court has said “investigation is the prerogative of the investigating agency”. “There are certain safeguards provided in the law and at this stage, on the material on record, it cannot be said that the arrest is illegal. The agency, however, should not be overzealous,” it has added.

The court has asked the central agency to produce Mr Kejriwal in court on Saturday. The court has said Mr Kejriwal may meet his wife for an hour daily. “Let the medically prescribed diet/home cooked food be provided to the accused during the police custody remand. Accused may also be provided with the prescribed medicines as well as glucometer during the remand. Accused be also allowed to take spectacles,” it has said, detailing the custody conditions.

Mr Kejriwal’s counsel, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari, had stressed that it was not necessary to arrest him at this stage and questioned the timing of the arrest. “This court has to consider, at this stage, the merits of the case. The timing may be circumspect but it is not the clear criterion for declaring an arrest illegal,” it said.

The AAP leader’s counsel told that the CBI had questioned him in this connection for nine hours in April last year. Mr Kejriwal then addressed the court directly and recounted what he had told CBI when he was asked why the now-scrapped liquor policy was framed.

“I told them (the CBI) there were three points. First – increase revenue. Second – reduce crowds to handle law and order. Third – opening of liquor shops in the right proportion (i.e., equal distribution across the city). I had given instructions to Manish Sisodia (his former deputy, who, in February last year, was the first to be arrested in this case) to keep these three things in mind in the policy,” he said.

“It is a poor citizen vs might of the State. This case is pending since August 2022. I was called as a witness… I appeared and, for nine hours, I assisted. Not a single notice (from the CBI) since then. How did they shift from a witness to an accused… it is a long distance to cover,” the counsel argued.

The CBI termed the AAP leader’s allegations “unnecessary”. We could have done this before, or even during, the election. We did not… it (the interrogation) was done only after the court’s permission.”

The agency pointed out it was not bound to announce the start of an investigation. “Suppose there is an inquiry… I don’t have to tell (Mr Kejriwal)… Who I have to tell is to the court – that I need custody. There is no mandate I have to tell the other side about my desire to investigate,” its counsel said.

Senior and veteran leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Lal Krishna Advani, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday.

The BJP leader is stable and under observation, according to doctors.

He was recently conferred with Bharat Ratna by President Draupadi Murmu on March 30, 2024.

Born in Karachi (present-day Pakistan) on November 8, 1927, Mr Advani joined the RSS as a Swayamsevak in 1942. He served as the BJP National President from 1986 to 1990, then from 1993 to 1998, and from 2004 to 2005. Mr Advani had served as the President of the party for the longest period since its inception in 1980.

Capping a parliamentary career of nearly three decades, LK Advani was first the Home Minister and, later, the Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004).

In the run-up to the 2009 elections, Mr Advani being the Leader of the Opposition in a parliamentary democracy was assumingly considered the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the general elections, ending on 16 May 2009, according to the official website of BJP.

On 10 December 2007, the Parliamentary Board of BJP formally announced Mr Advani as its prime ministerial candidate for the general elections due in 2009. But when Congress and its allies won the 2009 general elections, Mr Advani paved the way for Sushma Swaraj to become the Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Stock market today: Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, continued to hit new lifetime highs in trade on Thursday. While BSE Sensex crossed the 79,000 mark for the first time to hit a high of 79013.76, Nifty50 too went past 23,900.