Two days after his arrest, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will on Saturday hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy ‘scam’ case.
Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday, hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection to the AAP national convenor from any coercive action by the agency.
A division bench of the high court, presided over by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, declined to provide Arvind Kejriwal with interim protection from coercive action. Instead, they scheduled his application for the relief to be reviewed on April 22, coinciding with the date set for the hearing of his primary petition contesting the ED’s summons.
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.
On Friday, a Delhi court remanded Kejriwal in Enforcement Directorate’s custody till March 28 “for his detailed and sustained interrogation” regarding his role in the alleged Delhi excise policy ‘scam’. The court observed that custodial interrogation was required to “unearth the remaining proceeds of crime” and to “confront him with data retrieved from digital devices and material seized during the investigation”.
The Delhi court remanded Kejriwal in ED custody for six days after the agency pressed for his custodial interrogation for 10 days while accusing the AAP leader of being “involved in the entire conspiracy of the Delhi liquor scam, in drafting and implementation of the policy, for favouring and benefiting the quid pro receiving kickbacks and eventually using part of the proceeds of crime generated out of the scheduled offence in the election campaign for Goa Assembly election”.
Special judge for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases Kaveri Baweja ordered the ED to bring Kejriwal back to court on March 28 at 2 pm.
(With PTI inputs)