Politics
Arvind Kejriwal Sent to Judicial Custody Till April 15 in Liquor Policy Case
Arvind Kejriwal Sent to Judicial Custody Till April 15 in Liquor Policy Case
In a money laundering case related to a now-repeated liquor policy, a Delhi court on Monday placed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal under judicial custody until April 15, less than three weeks before the nation starts voting in the Lok Sabha elections. After his incarceration in the Enforcement Directorate ended, Kejriwal was presented in front of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja. Kejriwal was placed under 15 days of judicial detention by the investigating agency, which also informed the court that they would need more time under observation later.
In representing the ED, Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju claimed that the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had been “evasive” with the replies and “non-cooperative” during the custody period. “He has deliberately not given passwords to electronic devices,” Raju said. The AAP leader told reporters before going into court that “whatever the prime minister is doing” (referring to his arrest) is bad for the nation.
In court were AAP ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, and Sunita Kejriwal, who is Kejriwal’s wife. In the meantime, a plea asking the Delhi High Court to stop the Chief Minister from giving instructions while under the arrest of the ED in connection with the money laundering case was denied. The court directed the special judge overseeing the excise policy matter to issue appropriate orders in compliance with the law and requested that the central agency submit a note to the judge in question.
Respondent number 2 (ED) is ordered by this court to bring its opinions to the attention of the aforementioned judge, who is then tasked with issuing the necessary orders in compliance with the law. The court stated in its ruling, “It is clarified that this court has not commented on the locus standi of the petition and that the same is left open.” The ED informed the court that it does not give the chief minister any tools or infrastructure to issue directives.
