New Delhi. While granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the liquor scam, the Rouse Avenue Court had said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had failed to provide direct evidence against him that he was linked to the proceeds of crime. The judge in the bail order also rejected the argument of the investigating agency that “investigation is an art”.
However, the Delhi High Court has stayed the ED’s appeal following a trial court order passed on Thursday. The trial court’s order came to the media on Friday. In the order granting relief to Kejriwal, Special Judge Nyay Bindu said that prima facie his guilt has not been proved yet.
There came a time in the court when the judge quoted Benjamin Franklin, one of the founders of America, saying, “Even if 100 guilty persons escape, not one innocent person should have to suffer.” The judge said that it is a principle of law that until proven guilty, every person should be considered innocent, but this does not seem to apply in the case of the present accused.
The judge said, “It may be possible that some of the persons known to the petitioner are involved in some crime… but the ED has failed to produce any direct evidence regarding the proceeds of crime against the petitioner.” He also questioned the ED’s silence on Kejriwal’s claim that he was arrested in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam without being named in the CBI FIR or the ECIR filed by the ED.
The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) is the ED’s FIR. The judge said, “It is also worth noting that the ED is silent about the fact as to how the proceeds of crime have been used by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the assembly elections in Goa, as even after almost two years, a large part of the alleged amount is yet to be traced.”
The judge said the ED had failed to explain how much time it needed to trace the entire alleged illegal transaction of money. He said, “This means that till the ED completes the process of tracing the remaining amount, the accused should remain behind bars, that too without proper evidence against him (the Chief Minister). This is also not an acceptable argument of the ED.”
Tags: Arvind Kejriwal, CBI investigation, Delhi liquor scam, enforcement directorate, Rouse Avenue Court
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 21, 2024, 22:48 IST