New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday morning denied immediate relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on a plea against his arrest last month on charges of money laundering in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.
Mr Kejriwal – arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 – will now have to wait for the agency to respond to his plea on April 27, and the court to meet again on April 29 to hear his argument.
This means that Arvind Kejriwal is likely to remain in jail until 10 days after the start of the Lok Sabha elections, in which his Aam Aadmi Party (part of the Congress-led opposition bloc INDIA) is widely seen as a key rival to the ruling Bharatiya Janata. Party in Delhi and Punjab, which together have 20 Lok Sabha seats.
Arvind Kejriwal hearing in the Supreme Court
During the hearing today, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Kejriwal, told a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta that he had “facts that would shock the conscience of the court”.
He also used “selective leaks everywhere” to discredit the chief minister and sought “an extremely close date (of Friday)” to start hearing the petition. However, the court rejected the plea.
“We will give a reasonable date… a very short date. But not what you say,” the court said, while also telling Mr Singhvi to “reserve your arguments” after he continued to insist on an earlier hearing .
The Supreme Court's setback to Mr Kejriwal's hopes for an early hearing (and possible release so he can campaign for the AAP) comes after the Delhi High Court dismissed the same plea last week.
No relief from Delhi High Court for Kejriwal
The court said the ED had submitted sufficient material to substantiate its claim – that the Chief Minister was allegedly involved in forming the now scrapped policy and demanding a bribe of Rs 100 crore.
At the Supreme Court, Mr. Kejriwal argued vehemently against his arrest, pointing to the timing of the federal agency's action; the AAP chief, an outspoken critic of the ruling BJP, was taken into custody for hours after he was denied protection. That was after he skipped several summonses. claim there is a political conspiracy.
READ | Arvind Kejriwal to remain in jail, Supreme Court rejects plea on arrest
Ultimately, Mr. Kejriwal's arrest was declared valid and his plea was rejected.
Mr Kejriwal had approached the Supreme Court after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, but had to wait as the Supreme Court said it would not be a special court to hear him; the court was closed (for Eid) when the AAP leader approached on Thursday, April 10. Friday was also a holiday.
Mr Kejriwal has called his arrest an “unprecedented attack on the principles of democracy” based on “free and fair elections” and “federalism”. The AAP has denied all allegations and has described the case against its National Convenor as a “political vendetta” aimed at destroying the party before the elections.
READ | “Judges not tied to politics”: Supreme Court on Kejriwal's petition
“Political considerations cannot be brought before a court… the matter before this court is not a conflict between the Central government and Arvind Kejriwal. It is a matter between Kejriwal and ED.”
Meanwhile, a Delhi court extended Mr Kejriwal's judicial custody till April 23 during a hearing.
Arvind Kejriwal and alleged liquor policy fraud
The defiant Mr Kejriwal became the first sitting Prime Minister to be arrested; weeks earlier, another opposition leader, Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, narrowly avoided that distinction by resigning minutes before his arrest by the ED in an unrelated money laundering case.
In reference to the alleged liquor policy scam, the ED has also arrested two colleagues of Mr Kejriwal; his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested in February last year and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in October. Mr Singh was granted bail this month by the Supreme Court, which asked the ED some tough questions, including why he had been jailed for six months without trial.
READ | Sanjay Singh gets bail after six months in jail in liquor policy case
The Supreme Court also wanted to know why the agency had so far failed to recover the alleged kickbacks. “Nothing has been recovered… there is no trace (of money allegedly received by the AAP as bribes for granting liquor licenses to the 'South Group')…” the court observed.
Mr Sisodia's bail application will be heard later today.
The ED has repeatedly alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party conspired to receive Rs 600 crore in bribes – including from a 'south group' led by opposition leader K Kavitha of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, who has also been arrested – for allotment of beverages in retail and wholesale. permits for the national capital.
Earlier today, K Kavitha also saw her judicial custody extended till April 23.
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