Supreme Court Will Hear Kejriwal’s Petition Today

The Supreme Court will hear Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate today, with less than six weeks till the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. In a case involving money laundering connected to Delhi’s since-cancelled alcohol policy, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was taken into custody on March 21. This comes after Kejriwal was refused relief on Tuesday by the Delhi High Court. The government investigating agency produced data to imply that he had allegedly plotted to draft the policy and was involved in seeking claimed bribes of ₹ 100 crore, the high court stated, rejecting his petition.

The AAP leader petitioned the Supreme Court for redress the day following the ruling. He was unable to obtain an expedited hearing, though. After then, the court was closed for the weekend and Eid. The Chief Minister’s case will be heard by a bench consisting of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta today at approximately 10.30 a.m. Kejriwal claimed that his arrest following the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections was “motivated by extraneous considerations” in his appeal against the high court’s decision. According to the appeal, a Chief Minister was detained in the midst of an election cycle in a “motivated manner.”

The Delhi Chief Minister is the third high-ranking AAP leader to be taken into custody in this case after he disregarded several summonses. Prior to this, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and his erstwhile deputy, Manish Sisodia, were detained in connection with the matter. Right now, Singh is free on bond. The 2022 CBI case that is the basis for the ED’s money laundering probe relates to purported anomalies in the excise policy. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s allegation led to the CBI registering the case. While crafting the liquor policy, senior AAP officials are accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy and purposefully leaving loopholes to benefit some licensees. Nine months after it was put into effect, the liquor policy was removed due to political unrest and corruption accusations.

The AAP has refuted the accusations leveled at its leaders and emphasized that throughout its raids, ED officers did not discover a single cent. “Crupies are the topic of conversation. However, not a single rupee of illicit funds has been discovered by the CBI or ED. According to Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, witnesses have been coerced into changing their testimony and saying what the ED wants them to.” Money laundering is not the issue here. He has declared, “This is the largest political plot in the history of India.”