‘CBI dancing like puppet’: AAP claims BJP ‘conspiracy’ to keep Kejriwal in jail

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday slammed the BJP and central probe agency CBI for allegedly conspiring to keep Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in jail in the excise policy case.

Senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Atishi alleged that the CBI sought time from the Supreme Court to file a reply on Kejriwal's bail plea, but instead "planted" it in newspapers.

Hitting back, the BJP asked the AAP to challenge the CBI in the Supreme Court if it felt that the agency was "lying and biased". No immediate reaction was available from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the AAP's charges In a post in Hindi on X, Sisodia said, "The CBI says in court that its reply on the bail plea is not ready and so the hearing of bail be extended by 14 days. The same day the CBI's reply is given to the media so that it can become a one-sided headline in the newspapers".

"The CBI is dancing like a puppet on the BJP instructions to keep Arvind Kejriwal in jail," he added.

The senior AAP leader asserted that the conspiracies being hatched for "headline management" will fail and truth and honesty will win one day. The agencies may dance to a political tune but the Constitution and justice are with the truth, he said.

The apex court on Friday deferred hearing on Kejriwal's bail plea in the excise policy case till September 5 after the agency sought more time to file its affidavit on it.

Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the case.

The CBI, in its detailed affidavit filed in response to Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest, alleged all the critical decisions in the formulation of the now-scrapped excise policy were taken at the Delhi chief minister's behest in connivance with the then deputy chief minister Sisodia.

In a press conference, AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi too slammed the CBI.

"The CBI's affidavit was ready but it lied in the Supreme Court only to keep Arvind Kejriwal in jail for few more days," she charged.

During the bail hearing of Kejriwal, the "BJP's CBI" sought a week to file an affidavit but it is published in every newspaper today, she alleged.

"The question arises, how did the affidavit for which the CBI needed a week's time yesterday get printed in all the newspapers today? It means the CBI is conspiring to keep Arvind Kejriwal in jail for a few more days," she said.

"I would like to tell the BJP that no matter how hard they try, truth ultimately prevails. We saw in Manish Sisodia's case that despite the best efforts of the CBI and ED, he got relief from the Supreme Court," Atishi said.

She said the AAP is confident that Kejriwal will come out of jail soon and every "conspiracy" being hatched by the BJP through the CBI and ED will fail.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Kapoor said the AAP was an "anarchic party" whose leaders expect the investigative agencies to work according to their whims.

"For AAP leaders any investigation agency opposing their bail application or contention or a court not allowing the relief sought by them is biased towards them at the BJP's behest," he said.

Kejriwal who was arrested by the enforcement directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the excise policy case on March 21 got bail from the trial court on June 20.

The trial court's bail order was struck down by the Delhi High Court on June 21. Kejriwal approached the apex court on June 22 against the high court order but was arrested on June 26 by the CBI in the excise policy case.

Later, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal on July 11 in the money laundering case filed by the ED. PTI