Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED on Thursday night
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court is set to hear Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s challenge to his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week and a trial court’s order that remanded him in the agency’s custody for a week.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma will hear the matter at 10.30 am today. The petition challenging the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s arrest was filed on April 23, two days after his arrest in a money laundering case related to Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy.
A day after his arrest, Mr Kejriwal had approached the Supreme Court for relief. However, he later withdrew his petition and his counsel, Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, said they would contest the remand proceedings before the trial court and return to the top court with another petition.
Thereafter, he was produced before the Rouse Avenue court, which remanded him in a weeklong custody.
The ED’s money laundering case is based on a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022 that alleged irregularities in the liquor policy.
The CBI case, registered on a complaint by Delhi’s Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, alleges that top AAP leaders intentionally left loopholes in the policy to favour some licensees.
The ED alleges that Mr Kejriwal was a key conspirator in the case. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha have been arrested in this connection.
The Opposition leaders have denied the allegations and accused the BJP-led central government of using probe agencies such as ED and CBI for political motives.
The AAP has also hit out at the BJP over the timing of the arrest, alleging that it was trying to prevent Mr Kejriwal from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The party, which is in power in Delhi, has maintained that Mr Kejriwal will continue as Chief Minister. AAP ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj have said the Chief Minister is issuing orders from the ED’s lock-up and assured Delhi residents that the Chief Minister is constantly thinking about their well-being.