New Delhi. Heated exchanges and tough legal arguments in equal measure went on between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday when the Delhi High Court heard the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief’s plea for interim relief. Kejriwal was arrested last month and has been sent to the national capital’s Tihar jail till April 15 for his role as the “kingpin” in the alleged liquor policy scam.
During the arguments, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing the ED, gave a strong reply to the arguments about the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest, saying “the criminals should be arrested and put in jail”. ASG Raju declared, “Undertrial prisoners have no right to say, ‘We will commit crimes and we will not be arrested because elections have come. This is completely ridiculous.”
He further said, “This is completely ridiculous. This will give criminals license to roam freely. If a common man has committed a crime then he will have to go behind the bars, but because you are the Chief Minister you cannot be arrested? You will loot the country, but no one can touch you because elections are coming? You say your arrest will lead to infrastructure violation? What kind of infrastructure is this?”
Regarding Kejriwal’s statement that nothing was found at my house? Investigating agency’s lawyer Raju said in the court, when ED asks you (Kejriwal) where is the money? So you say I don’t know. You also say that ‘nothing was found at my house’, you used the money in Goa elections, then how will you get that money from your house.”
ED further said, “Hiding can happen in different ways. It can be sent abroad and then ED asks you, and you say I don’t know. Tracing the proceeds of crime is irrelevant. But the logic is, ‘I did not get anything from my house, but if you give it to someone else, then where will you get it from your house?'”
AAP’s national convenor, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, questioned the ‘timing’ of his arrest and said it is a violation of the basic structure of the Constitution including providing free and fair elections and equal opportunities. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi presented arguments on behalf of Kejriwal. Kejriwal is currently in judicial custody.
On behalf of the agency, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S. V. Raju opposed the petition saying that the case prima facie constitutes the offense of money laundering and at present, the investigation against the petitioner is in the preliminary stage. The ASG denied allegations of bias against the ED and said their case was based on evidence and ‘the culprits must be arrested and sent to jail’.
It was also argued by the ED that the petition attacks the first detention order passed against the petitioner and not the subsequent orders. The court had for the first time ordered to send Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28.
The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21 after the High Court had refused to grant him protection from punitive action by the ED. The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 and the subsequent repeal of that policy.
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Tags: AAP, Arvind kejriwal, DELHI HIGH COURT, Delhi liquor scam
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 3, 2024, 20:53 IST