New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Friday sent to six-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) by a Delhi court in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja sent Kejriwal to the custody of the ED till March 28 for interrogation after the Chief Minister was produced before her this afternoon following his arrest by the ED last night. The Delhi High Court had earlier refused to grant him protection from coercive action.
He had skipped nine ED summonses requiring him to answer questions about alleged illegalities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was scrapped amid allegations of corruption.
His deeds to blame
I am upset that Kejriwal, who once raised his voice against liquor, is now making liquor policies. His arrest is because of his own deeds. —Anna Hazare, Activist
Accusing the AAP national convener of not cooperating with the investigation, the probe agency had sought his 10-day custody, saying he needed to be confronted with the other accused and proof that the anti-money laundering agency had gathered.
Reading out the remand application, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the Special Judge on behalf of the ED that Kejriwal was the kingpin of the Delhi excise scam, who was directly involved in the implementation of the policy and giving favour to the South Group.
Kejriwal received several crores of rupees as kickbacks from the South Group for formulating and implementing the Delhi excise policy and that he had demanded Rs 100 crore from some accused from the South Group for contesting elections, Raju alleged.
The money trail showed that Rs 45 crore “kickbacks” used in the Goa Assembly elections came from four hawala routes and the statements of the accused and witnesses had been corroborated by call detail records, Raju submitted. Kejriwal was culpable in the case not only as an individual but was vicariously responsible for the actions of his associates, the ED alleged.
Raju alleged that accused Vijay Nair, who stayed adjacent to the CM's residence and was also the media in-charge for AAP, acted as a middleman with the South Group.
AAP was a beneficiary, but it didn't exist individually. “It is a company. Every person who is involved in the functioning of the company is responsible and shall be deemed to be guilty,” Raju alleged.
On behalf of Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi contested the ED's claims, saying there was a conspiracy to keep the AAP leader behind bars so that he could not campaign in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi Chief Minister withdrew from the Supreme Court a petition against his arrest by the ED, shortly after a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the petition would be heard later in the day.
Singhvi argued against the necessity of arrest, stating that it should only occur when immediate action was required, not just for further investigation. Questioning the arrest, Singhvi said, “The fact that you need to further trace the money trail is no ground for arrest. It can be a ground for questioning; it cannot be a ground for interrogation. You have the basic material, why should you want further custodial custody?”
‘Move trial court': SC denies Kavitha bail
The SC on Friday refused to entertain a bail plea of BRS MLC K Kavitha, arrested by the ED in a laundering case related to the excise scam. It told her to move trial court.
