‘Fake cases cooked up at BJP office,’ says INDIA bloc after Kejriwal bail

Opposition parties in the INDIA bloc, including the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), hailed the Supreme Court's decision on Friday, 13 September, which granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the contentious excise policy case.

The INDIA bloc leaders strongly criticised the BJP, accusing it of weaponising the central agencies to target opposition leaders.

In a coordinated attack, several members of different parties alleged that false cases were being orchestrated from the BJP's headquarters to undermine the opposition ahead of upcoming elections.

The Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal in the CBI-led investigation into the excise policy case.

Earlier, Kejriwal had also secured interim bail in a related money-laundering case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). His release marked a significant reprieve for the APP (Aam Aadmi Party) leader, who has been under intense scrutiny from both agencies.

Welcoming the court’s ruling, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari drew parallels between the recent legal victories and reprieves of other opposition leaders.

"First, it was Hemant Soren in Jharkhand, and now Kejriwal in Delhi. It is clear that the BJP’s vendetta politics will not hold up in courts of law," Tiwari remarked.

"The court has freed him and we have been saying this, that you are keeping someone in jail without any evidence... and if you have evidence, why are you not presenting it before the court? The same happened in the cases of Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh," said senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat.

Leaders from the RJD and CPI echoed similar sentiments, expressing confidence that the BJP’s alleged misuse of investigative bodies would backfire.

"These cases are fabricated at BJP offices, and the people of this country will see through their lies," RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha said.

"This had to happen. This will happen in every case because all cases were fake, fictitious and hatched in Delhi BJP office. Power keeps transferring.

"Listen to High Court observation in the case of Hemant Soren, read it and read about today's case — it is a slap to not just ED, I-T [income tax department] and CBI but also to those who plot this. So, a clear message has been sent across — baaj aiye (stop it)," added Jha.

He went on to say, "Tomorrow, when you won't be in power, these agencies will knock at your doors as well. We will feel bad at that time too, because there should be no place for vendetta in politics.

"But today's decision is welcome. Congratulations to AAP and its legal team."

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Hannan Mollah also reacted to the development and said only opposition leaders are being targeted by the central probe agencies.

"This is BJP's policy to destroy the opposition by using government machinery. They don’t have anything against Arvind Kejriwal; despite this, he has been kept in jail. The only reason behind all this is that the BJP wants to capture Delhi through the lieutenant governor, who from Day 1 has been undermining the Delhi administration," the Marxist leader said.

The CPI's D. Raja also welcomed the bail granted to Arvind Kejriwal, and said, "He is an elected chief minister of Delhi. Now, we will have to wait and see how the legal course and judicial process will move further, because there are some conditions."

Arvind Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions in the Supreme Court, challenging both the denial of bail and his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case brought against him by the central agency. The AAP chief, who was arrested by the CBI on 26 June, has contested the Delhi High Court’s 5 August decision that upheld his arrest in the case.