INVC NEWS
New Delhi : The CM Kejriwal’s petition challenging ED’s arrest and detention was heard in the Delhi High Court. The court said that this petition is not for bail. Also the court rejected the petition. Kejriwal’s petition challenging ED’s arrest and detention in the money laundering case related to the liquor scam was heard in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday. The court said that the petition is not for bail. In the petition, the petitioner has termed the detention as wrong. While delivering the verdict, Justice Swaran Kant Sharma rejected the petition. At the same time, news is being received from Aam Aadmi Party sources that AAP does not agree with the decision of the High Court. Kejriwal can approach the Supreme Court tomorrow itself against the decision of the High Court.
Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma had reserved the decision on April 3 after hearing lengthy arguments. The court said that we believe that judges are bound by law, not by politics. Judgments are given on the basis of legal principles, not political considerations. The court cannot go into the realm of politics. The court also upheld the subsequent remand orders of the trial court, including the order through which Kejriwal was sent to judicial custody.
On the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said, this court is of the opinion that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand investigation should be conducted as per law and not as per the election timings. Kejriwal would know about the dates of Lok Sabha, he would know when the elections would be held. He said after going through the material presented by the ED, the material collected by the ED shows that Arvind Kejriwal had hatched the conspiracy and was actively involved in the utilization and concealment of the proceeds of crime. ED’s case also shows that he is involved in his individual capacity as well as as the convenor of AAP.
Rejecting the argument that the Chief Minister could have been questioned by the ED through video conferencing, Justice Sharma said it was not the job of the accused to decide how the investigation is to be conducted. This cannot be as per the convenience of the accused. There cannot be any specific privileges for anyone including the Chief Minister. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in a money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021. He was produced before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court, which sent him to ED custody till March 28.
He then challenged his arrest and remand in the High Court. In his plea, Kejriwal argued that the Central government is misusing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) – under which he was arrested – to create an unlevel playing field ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kejriwal alleged that the central government was trying to twist the electoral process in favor of the party ruling at the Center (Bharatiya Janata Party), which controls the ED through the Finance Ministry.
ASG SV Raju, who is representing the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi Liquor Policy case, said, ‘Today the judge pronounced the verdict after looking at all the evidence and the court also said that the money trail has been detected. The court has given justice today and the court has said that the arrest of CM Kejriwal is legal.
