Durgesh Pathak granted bail; Kejriwal's custody extended
The CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet against Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Sharath Chandra Reddy, Ashish Mathur, and Vinod Chauhan
ANI
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Durgesh Pathak and the other charge-sheeted accused appeared before the court on summons issued by the Rouse Avenue Court.PHOTO:PTI
New
Delhi,11 Sept
The Rouse
Avenue court Special Judge Kaveri Baweja on Wednesday granted bail to AAP
leader Durgesh Pathak upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. The other
accused also furnished their bail bonds. Durgesh Pathak and the other
charge-sheeted accused appeared before the court on summons issued by the Rouse
Avenue Court.
CM Arvind
Kejriwal and other accused in custody were produced via video conferencing from
Tihar Jail, while Vinod Chauhan appeared physically. Chauhan is in custody in a
money laundering case. Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody has been extended
until September 25.
The Rouse
Avenue Court issued summons and production warrants for the accused after
taking cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet filed by the CBI. Following
the hearing, the CBI stated it would provide copies of the supplementary charge
sheet to the counsels for the charge-sheeted accused. The list of unreleased
documents will also be provided later.
The CBI had
filed a supplementary charge sheet against Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak,
Amit Arora, Sharath Chandra Reddy, Ashish Mathur, and Vinod Chauhan.
On
September 3, the court took cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet.
Earlier, the CBI had filed a requisite prosecution sanction against Kejriwal
and Durgesh Pathak, who is an MLA. The CBI alleges that money received from the
South group was used for AAP's Goa election campaign. It is also alleged that
Kejriwal promised to provide Rs 90 lakhs to each candidate in 40 constituencies
of Goa.
Special
Public Prosecutor (SPP) D.P. Singh, along with Manu Mishra, appeared for the
CBI. He stated that this is the fourth and final charge sheet and that no
further investigation is anticipated.
SPP D.P.
Singh submitted that Kejriwal was in contact with the South group through Vijay
Nair, who was appointed by Kejriwal as a media manager. The money received from
the South group was used for AAP's Goa election campaign, and Kejriwal
allegedly promised Rs 90 lakhs to each candidate in 40 constituencies. Raghav
Magunta reportedly met Kejriwal.
Singh
further submitted that Durgesh Pathak was in charge of the Goa election. All
the money spent on the Goa election was done on Pathak's instructions. He is an
MLA from Delhi.
SPP D.P.
Singh also mentioned witnesses who claimed that a businesswoman from Punjab was
threatened. He referenced the Mahadev liquor case and witnesses Sunny Marwah,
Punit Diwan, and Jasdeep Kaur Chaddha. It is alleged that Amit Arora threatened
Punit Diwan and another witness, claiming to be the brother of Dinesh Arora, an
approver in the case. In May, a witness received a letter demanding the closure
of the liquor business. Jagpreet Kaur was reportedly asked to donate Rs 51
crore to the CM's relief fund. SPP D.P. Singh also mentioned accused Sharath
Chandra Reddy, who allegedly arranged Rs 14 crores and acquired five liquor
vends in Delhi.
Singh
referred to WhatsApp chats involving Vinod Chauhan, Amit Arora, Jagdeep Kaur
Chaddha, Punit Diwan, and Anant S. Aiyer, all related to the Mahadev liquor
case.
Singh also
cited statements from AAP's Goa candidates, who claimed that Kejriwal told them
not to worry about the funds required for the election. Singh further stated
that the money was transferred under Pathak's directions.
CM Arvind
Kejriwal appeared via video conferencing and was permitted to leave the VC
session for lunch due to low blood sugar. CBI's SPP further submitted that
another accused, Vinod Chauhan, was dealing with the PA of K Kavitha. -ANI
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