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Plea withdrawn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 4:59 PM IST
AAP MLAs, councillors reach Kejriwal's residence, allege his family 'placed under house arrest'
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs and councillors reached Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in Civil Lines to meet his family on Friday, a day after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.
AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak said, "We have come here to meet his family. They are not being allowed to meet anyone. They have been placed under house arrest. Nobody knows what state they are in." AAP MLAs, including Jarnail Singh and Raaj Kumar Anand, and Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi were among those present outside Kejriwal's residence. The AAP leaders raised slogans of 'tyranny won't last' and 'house arrest bandh karo'.
Kejriwal, the AAP national convenor, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
- 22 March 2024 4:42 PM IST
Kejriwal's arrest attack on democracy, says Chhattisgarh AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party's Chhattisgarh unit on Friday staged a protest to denounce the arrest of its national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
Around 100 party leaders and workers holding AAP flags and the tricolour gathered at Ambedkar Chowk in Raipur and raised slogans against the BJP-led central government. Talking to PTI at the protest site, state AAP secretary Priyanka Shukla hit out at the BJP-led Centre and claimed they want 'one nation, one party' rule and run the government like a dictator wherein they want to control everything.
- 22 March 2024 4:41 PM IST
AAP leaders storm social media with 'IndiaWithKejriwal' hashtag
Aam Aadmi Party leaders and MLAs on Friday started a hashtag campaign "IStandWithKejriwal" and "IndiaWithKejriwal" on social media platform X to garner support for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
AAP's allies in the INDIA bloc have also extended support to the party's national convener and condemned his arrest. Hashtags such as 'DeshKejriwalKeSathHain' and 'ArvindKejriwalArrested' are among the top five trends in India on X so far.
Many AAP leaders, including Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Durgesh Pathak, Shelly Oberoi, Jasmine Shah, and Sanjeev Jha used the hashtag "IStandWithKejriwal" and "IndiaWithKejriwal" in their posts on X. Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who was detained by police, posted a video on X from Alipur Police Station of him and several other AAP workers singing 'mera rang de basanti chola'. In a separate post, he wrote "the prison of any dictator is not strong enough to imprison democracy for long," sharing a poster with "IStandWithKejriwal" written on it.
- 22 March 2024 4:30 PM IST
AAP, Congress workers protest across Gujarat
Leaders and party workers of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress on Friday protested in many parts of Gujarat against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
While demonstrations were organised in major cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Bhavnagar, police detained nearly 130 protesters, including AAP Gujarat president Isudan Gadhavi and party MLAs Umesh Makwana and Hemant Khava.
In Ahmedabad, AAP and Congress workers gathered near Lal Darwaja area and shouted slogans against the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of framing Kejriwal in a false case. “There is absolutely no evidence against Kejriwal. First, they incarcerated Manish Sisodia and now Kejriwal out of political vendetta. ED officials who used to extort money from people through electoral bonds have arrested a popular CM,” said Gadhavi before he along with nearly 20 protestors were detained by the city police. In Surat, a group of workers and leaders of AAP and Congress were detained.
- 22 March 2024 4:27 PM IST
Totally disappointed with Kejriwal, says former colleague
Former Supreme Court Judge N Santosh Hegde said on Friday that he was "totally disappointed" with Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in connection with an excise policy linked money-laundering case.
Justice (retd) Hegde, a former Solicitor General of India, was among the key personalities, including Kejriwal, behind the then 'India Against Corruption' movement, spearheaded by Anna Hazare, more than a decade ago, which had at the time brought the issue of corruption into sharp focus. "It clearly shows that when in power, greed overtakes you," he said on the case against Arvind Kejriwal
