A Delhi Court has extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s judicial custody until April 15 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam case, which is linked to money laundering. Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21, was presented before Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Courts as his Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody expired. The trial court had previously granted him six days of ED custody, which was later extended by an additional four days.
Kejriwal had disregarded nine summons issued by the ED. Two other Aam Aadmi Party leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are also facing accusations in the same case and are currently in judicial custody.
Excise policy case | Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court sends Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15 pic.twitter.com/EQhviDECmF
— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2024
After his arrest, Kejriwal swiftly filed an urgent petition before the Supreme Court challenging his detention, although it was subsequently withdrawn. He had previously approached the Delhi High Court (division bench) contesting the summons issued by the central probe agency and sought interim protection, with a hearing scheduled for April 22.
ED had lodged two criminal complaints against Kejriwal in the Rouse Avenue Courts, accusing him of failing to comply with the summons. Kejriwal has refused to obey the summons, asserting their illegality.
Recently, the Delhi High Court declined to grant any interim relief to Kejriwal and only issued a notice on his plea challenging the arrest and remand. ED has alleged that Kejriwal is the mastermind behind the Delhi excise scam and directly participated in the utilization of proceeds of crime amounting to over Rs. 100 crores.
ED contends that the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to provide a 12 percent profit margin to certain private companies in the wholesale business, despite such stipulations not being recorded in the minutes of Group of Ministers (GoM) meetings. The Central agency further alleges that there was a coordinated conspiracy led by Vijay Nair and other individuals, including South Group, to grant extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers, with Nair purportedly acting on behalf of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, according to the agency’s claims.
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