NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s dismissal of the plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the excise policy case.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed his plea, saying Kejriwal’s arrest is not in contravention of law and remand can’t be termed “illegal”. The high court further stated that this court is of the opinion that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand have to be examined as per law and not as per the timing of elections.
Kejriwal’s challenge to the timing of arrest before general elections in the absence of any mala fide on the part of ED is not sustainable, said the court. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21. The trial court sent him to judicial custody till April 15. ED alleged that the Aam Adami Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged liquor scam.
The agency also claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the excise policy. The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi Excise Policy 2022, which was later scrapped.
While Kejriwal was not named in the FIRs registered by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi excise policy case, his name first found a mention in the ED’s chargesheet, wherein the agency claimed that he allegedly spoke to one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, in a video call and asked him to continue working with co-accused and AAP communications-in-charge Vijay Nair.
Nair was among the first people to be arrested by the CBI in the case, in 2022. Subsequently, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were arrested in connection with the case. The latter, however, was granted bail by the Supreme Court last week. (ANI)