New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Saturday, denied an urgent listing of the plea by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, Arvind Kejriwal, challenging his arrest and custody in the Delhi Excise policy case. CM Kejriwal was sent to a seven-day Enforcement Directorate custody till March 28 by the Rouse Avenue Court.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The matter will be listed on the court’s reopening on Wednesday, the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court confirmed.
- Kejriwal moved to the Delhi High Court, challenging his arrest and the remand order issued by the trial court on March 22.
- The Delhi Chief Minister’s legal team said that the plea in Delhi HC stated that both the arrest and the remand order are ‘illegal’ and Delhi CM is entitled to be released from custody immediately.
- Earlier in the day, the apex court agreed to hear the plea of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Kejriwal against his arrest by the ED.
- Initially, Singhvi mentioned Kejriwal’s plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for urgent hearing.”If this process goes on, before the first vote is cast, a lot of senior leaders will be behind bars. Please take it up, Singhvi told the bench.
- CJI then asked him to mention his plea before a special three-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, which was hearing the plea of BRS leader K Kavitha against her arrest by the ED in the liquor policy case, at that time.
- The petition was filed by Kejriwal challenging the arrest by the ED last night subsequent to his arrest.
- On Thursday, the Delhi High Court refused to grant Kejriwal any protection from coercive action in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
- It had listed the AAP leader’s application seeking protection for further consideration on April 22 when his main petition challenging the summons is fixed for hearing, and asked the Enforcement Directorate to file its response.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) placed before the court the documents pertaining to the probe and said there was material to show the necessity to call Kejriwal for questioning.
- Kejriwal had moved the court in the wake of the latest summons, the ninth issued by the ED, asking him to appear before it on Thursday.
- The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case.
- Kejriwal’s name has been mentioned multiple times in the chargesheets filed by the ED. The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal to formulate the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they paid kickbacks to the party.
