LIVE | Delhi court sends Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28
The central agency said Kejriwal was the ‘kingpin’ of the scam and was directly involved in use of proceeds of crime in AAP's Goa election campaign in 2022
A Delhi court on Friday (March 22) sent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28.
The Enforcement Directorate, seeking his 10-day custody, earlier said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was a "key conspirator" in the liquor scam case along with other ministers and AAP leaders, as it sought his 10-day custody from a court in New Delhi.
The ED told Special Judge Kaveri Baweja at the Rouse Avenue court that Kejriwal received several crores of rupees as kickbacks from the 'South group' for formulating and implementing Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
He demanded Rs 100 crore from some accused from 'South group' for contesting the Punjab elections, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, who is appearing for the agency, told the court.
The law officer said the money trail showed that Rs 45 crore "kickback" used in Goa elections came from four hawala routes.
He said the statements of the accused and witnesses have been corroborated by Call Detail Records (CDR).
ASG SV Raju is appearing for the agency, while Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing Kejriwal.
Kejriwal was produced in the trial court shortly after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
Kejriwal's counsel said he would contest the remand proceedings before the trial court and then come back to the apex court with another petition.
Plea withdrawn
Earlier, Kejriwal withdrew from Supreme Court his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, told the Supreme Court that Kejriwal was withdrawing the petition as it was clashing with the remand. Singhvi said he would file a fresh plea with the Court Registry, challenging the remand.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court was on Friday set to hear Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest by the ED in an excise policy-linked money-laundering case.
Kejriwal had moved the Supreme Court late Thursday after the ED arrested him and took him to the agency's headquarters.
What happened on Thursday
The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to protect the AAP national convenor from any coercive action by the agency.
The 55-year-old leader's arrest, amid campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, drew angry reactions from his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The party said Kejriwal "will continue as the chief minister of Delhi. If need be, he will run the government from jail." The BJP though demanded that Kejriwal step down as chief minister on moral grounds.
The AAP has called nationwide protest on Friday against the arrest.
In a day of fast-paced developments, a 10-member ED team led by an additional director reached his official residence on Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines in the national capital soon after the high court order and carried out searches. He was arrested more than two hours after the ED team arrived at his residence, officials said.
They said the federal agency later took Kejriwal to its office in central Delhi. This is the 16th arrest in the case by the ED. Officials said the ED would produce the chief minister before a special court on Friday and seek his custody for interrogation in the case.
The ED has filed a total of six charge sheets in this case till now and attached assets worth over Rs 128 crore.
What ED says
The ED and the CBI had alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy to grant licenses to liquor traders allowed cartelization and favored certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the irregularities in its formulation and implementation.
Kejriwal had skipped nine summonses issued by the agency for questioning in the case, the latest being for Thursday, March 21. He has called these summonses "illegal".
As the ED officials carried out their action inside, additional Delhi Police personnel and Rapid Action Force (RAF) and CRPF teams were deployed around the chief minister's residence.
Sources said that additional deployment was made as the ED sought extra security measures in anticipation of protests by AAP supporters.
Live Updates
- 22 March 2024 5:24 PM IST
Court reserves order, will be passed shortly
Delhi Rouse Avenue Court's Special Judge reserves the order on the ED application seeking 10 days custodial remand of CM Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. The order will be passed shortly.
- 22 March 2024 5:21 PM IST
Arrest of sitting CM on eve of polls constitutes 'threat to democracy': Aiyar
A day after Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday said the arrest of a sitting chief minister, that too on the very eve of a general election, constitutes an immediate and long-term "threat to democracy and presages the end of constitutional democracy in India".
Kejriwal, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi chief minister, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday.
In a statement, Aiyar said the "unprecedented arrest of a sitting CM, and that too on the very eve of a general election after the promulgation of the Model Code of Conduct, constitutes an immediate and long-term threat to democracy and presages the end of constitutional democracy in India".
- 22 March 2024 5:20 PM IST
BJP has faith in dictatorship, not in Constitution: Siddaramaiah
Accusing BJP-led NDA government of freezing Congress' bank accounts fearing defeat in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday expressed hope that the people of the country will clearly reject the saffron party and "save" India.
BJP has no faith in democracy and Constitution, but has faith in dictatorship, he alleged, as he demanded that free and fair elections be held. Claiming that the money voluntarily donated by the people was in the Congress accounts, Siddaramaiah expressed outrage about freezing of the entire account for a "small technical reason" and termed it as a "dictatorial attitude".
- 22 March 2024 5:04 PM IST
PM Modi behaving like a tin-pot dictator: Derek O'Brien
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of behaving like a "tin-pot dictator," and said the BJP-led Centre was arresting opposition leaders in its desperation to secure win in the upcoming elections.
"The Prime Minister is behaving like a tin-pot dictator, arresting opponents, election agents, transferring state government officials... Changing rules in desperation to win seats... Why?" said O'Brien, who is in Delhi for a meeting of opposition INDIA bloc leaders with the Chief Election Commissioner, a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.
INDIA bloc parties are rallying behind Kejriwal, with the TMC making its first appearance with the opposition alliance partners since seat-sharing talks with Congress in West Bengal failed, and it announced going solo in the Lok Sabha polls.
