India News | CBI Cannot Justify Kejriwal's Arrest on Ground of Evasive Reply: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan Friday rejected the CBI's contention that it kept Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in continued incarceration as he was evasive in his reply and was not cooperating.
New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan Friday rejected the CBI's contention that it kept Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in continued incarceration as he was evasive in his reply and was not cooperating.
A bench of justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Surya Kant granted bail to the Aam Aadmi Party chief in the Delhi excise policy case.
"It cannot be the proposition that only when an accused answers the questions put to him by the investigation agency in the manner in which the investigating agency would like the accused to answer, would mean that the accused is cooperating with the investigation. Further, the respondent cannot justify the arrest and continued detention citing evasive reply," Justice Bhuyan said.
The top court judge said the cardinal principle under Article 20(3) of the Constitution is that no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.
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Justice Bhuyan said an accused has the right to remain silent and cannot be compelled to make inculpatory statements against himself.
"No adverse inference can be drawn from the silence of the accused. If this is the position, then the very grounds given for arrest of the appellant would be wholly untenable. On such grounds, it would be a travesty of justice to keep the appellant in further detention in the CBI case, more so, when he has already been granted bail on the same set of allegations under the more stringent provisions of PMLA," he said.
Justice Bhuyan said the CBI is a premier investigating agency of the country and in public interest the agency must not only be above board but must also be seem to be so.
"Rule of law, which is a basic feature of our constitutional republic, mandates that investigation must be fair, transparent and judicious. This Court has time and again emphasised that fair investigation is a fundamental right of an accused person under Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
"Investigation must not only be fair but must be seem to be so. Every effort must be made to remove any perception that investigation was not carried out fairly and that the arrest was made in a high handed and biased manner," he said.
The top court granted bail to Kejriwal in the corruption case, saying prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI investigation 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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