ED at Arvind Kejriwal's residence

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) team has arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today (Mar 21) in the money laundering case related to Delhi liquor policy.

Updated on Mar 21 11.15 p.m.

The Delhi CM was taken to the ED headquarters for further proceedings, and he will undergo a medical checkup on Mar 22, reported the media.

Moreover, the media also reported that AAP had asked for a late-night Supreme Court hearing, but it was listed for Mar 22.

Updated on Mar 21, 9.15 p.m.

The AAP chief was arrested after over two hours of questioning by an ED team, which included a joint director, at his residence.

The intelligence team had reached his residence today after the Delhi High Court denied the Delhi CM relief against ED’s summons.

“The ED is likely to question him in the alleged excise policy scam,” said agency sources.

There was heavy police deployment around the CM’s residence.

Earlier during the day, a division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain, after hearing the arguments from both sides, declined to pass any order granting interim relief on Kejriwal’s plea.

The bench on Mar 20 asked CM Kejriwal as to why he doesn’t appear before the probe agency in response to the summons.

The Delhi CM has knocked Supreme Court’s doors after the Delhi High Court denied him protection against “coercive action” by the ED, which has issued multiple summons to him in connection with the excise policy case.

Arvind Kejriwal’s legal tussle with ED

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Arvind Kejriwal, contended today that the ED’s summons lacked clarity regarding the capacity in which Kejriwal was called to appear, accusing the agency of attempting to create an uneven playing field ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

In response, ASG (additional solicitor general) SV Raju, along with special counsel Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the ED, opposed granting interim relief (to Arvind Kejriwal), saying that the law must be applied uniformly to all individuals, regardless of their position.

He clarified that Kejriwal was summoned in his personal capacity, and not as the CM or the Aam Aadmi Party chief, as he stressed the necessity for the Delhi CM’s interrogation based on the available evidence.

The ED has also issued summons to CM Kejriwal in the Delhi Jal Board case.

The liquor policy case timeline

A CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe was launched in July 2022 over the November 2021 decision of the Delhi government to implement the excise policy, after the chief secretary gross violations.

The CBI made five arrests in this case, including the then Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia, while the ED made Sisodia’s and AAP leader Sanjay Singh’s arrests. 

The ED had issued its first summons to Kejriwal in October last year, the second in December, and the third summon to appear before it for questioning on Jan 3. 

It had summoned him for the fourth time on Jan 13, asking him to appear before it on Jan 18, before issuing its fifth summons to Kejriwal, telling him to appear before the agency on Feb 2.

On Feb 19, Kejriwal skipped the ED’s sixth summons in connection with the excise policy case. The agency issued the eighth summons to Kejriwal asking him to appear before it on Mar 4, after he skipped the seventh summons issued on Feb 22. The ninth summons was scheduled for today.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha was also arrested on Mar 15 in this case after searches at her residence in Hyderabad.

(With inputs from IANS)

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What is the Delhi liquor excise scam for which CM Kejriwal faces ED arrest?