Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court, less than 24 hours after the Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected his petition to release him from Tihar jail noting that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sufficient evidence against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court ruled that ED had “sufficient” evidence to justify the arrest of Kejriwal, who cannot be allowed to take the plea of political vengeance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections after skipping nine ED summonses over the last six months.
There is no separate protocol for a probe agency to follow for questioning a common man and a Chief Minister, the court said and added that the ED cannot be blamed for the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest after he pushed the agency to a point where it was left with no other option.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21. The BJP has been demanding his resignation as the chief minister of Delhi. However, AAP says he hasn’t been convicted in any case.
If Kejriwal’s plea does not come up in the Supreme Court today, he will have to wait for another four days, as the court is closed for Eid-Ul-Fitr on Thursday, another holiday on Friday, and then the weekend.
Kejriwal’s counsel, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, raised the matter before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud this morning and sought an urgent hearing. The Chief Justice refused to specify if a hearing will be granted today. “We will see, we will look into it,” he said, adding that he will pass appropriate orders during the day.
AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said they are hopeful of relief in Supreme Court. He claimed that the ED and the CBI did not find “even a rupee” during their searches in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case.
“They are talking about crores. But ED and CBI have not found even a rupee of illegal money. Witnesses have been pressured to change their statements and say what ED wants them to. This issue is not about money laundering. This is the biggest political conspiracy in India’s history.”