The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, March 27 declined to pass any interim order for the release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested and is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy scam.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued a notice on a plea filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the ED. The Court also issued a notice on Kejriwal’s interim plea seeking release from ED custody but refused to pass any interim order. It gave the ED time until April 2 to respond to Kejriwal’s interim plea for release and posted the matter for further hearing on April 3.
Earlier today, arguments in the matter were made by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Kejriwal and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju for the ED. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in the Delhi Excise Policy case on March 21.
Delhi High Court issues notice to Enforcement Directorate on plea moved by CM Arvind Kejriwal raising issues of legality and validity regarding the arrest and remand.
Delhi HC seeks ED’s response on the main petition as well as the application for interim release of the… pic.twitter.com/5eRoyAVwk4
— ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2024
The case stems from a 2022 complaint filed by Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena alleging irregularities in framing the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. The complaint claimed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAM), including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other unnamed private individuals/entities during the formulation of the excise policy.
The alleged conspiracy involved intentionally creating loopholes in the policy meant to benefit certain liquor licensees and conspirators after the tender process. Kejriwal’s arrest marked the first time a sitting Chief Minister was detained in India. Deputy CM Sisodia and AAP Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh are already in custody in the same case. On March 15, the ED also arrested the daughter of Bharat Rashtra Samiti legislator and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, K Kavitha, in the case.
Hours after his arrest, Kejriwal’s legal team filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the ED’s action. However, this petition was eventually withdrawn on the morning of March 22. Kejriwal was then produced before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court which remanded him to ED custody until March 28.
Kejriwal then filed the present petition in the High Court challenging his arrest and remand. In this plea, Kejriwal contends that the Central government is misusing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to create an uneven playing field during the upcoming Parliamentary elections. The Central government is trying to manipulate the electoral process to favor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which controls the ED through the Ministry of Finance, Kejriwal has alleged.
