Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday approached the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
Mr. Kejriwal’s plea is unlikely to be heard before March 27 as the HC is closed till March 26 for Holi.
Sources in the Aam Aadmi Party had said Mr. Kejriwal’s legal team would request the court to hear the matter urgently, preferably on Sunday.
A trial court here had on Friday remanded Mr. Kejriwal in the ED’s custody till March 28 “for his detailed and sustained interrogation”. The six-day remand came on an ED plea seeking his 10-day custody in the case.
The ED had termed Mr. Kejriwal as “kingpin” of the Delhi excise policy “scam”, arguing before the trial court that he was directly involved in policy formulation and handling the proceeds of crime as well. The ED had said that the proceeds of crime could go much beyond the ₹100 crore estimated earlier and exceed ₹600 crore.
In his plea, Mr. Kejriwal contended that his arrest and remand were illegal and that he was entitled to be released from custody immediately.
On Thursday, the HC had denied to grant any interim relief to Mr. Kejriwal against any coercive action by the probe agency. Mr. Kejriwal had moved the HC in the wake of the latest summons, the ninth issued by the ED, asking him to appear before it on Thursday.
Hours after the Delhi HC order, the ED arrested the AAP convenor.
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After failing to secure a late-night hearing on Thursday, the AAP’s legal team led by Mr. Singhvi had rushed to the Supreme Court on Friday morning and requested Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud for an urgent hearing. After a series of twists and turns in court, the petition was withdrawn from the top court shortly after judges agreed to reconvene a Special Bench.
Skipped eight notices
The CM has so far skipped eight summonses issued by the probe agency between December 2023 and March 2024 in the case, involving the allegations that the now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi excise policy benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers for monetary considerations.
Former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in connection with the case.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had appeared before the court through videoconferencing on February 17 and expressed inability to be personally present for the hearing due to the Delhi Assembly session. The High Court had noted that Mr. Kejriwal was “legally bound” to comply with the summons.
(with PTI inputs)
