Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court contesting both his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case and the following remand order issued by a trial court.
Even though the Chief Minister’s case had been requested for an immediate hearing, it was turned down.
Since the High Court will be closed on Monday and Tuesday of next week owing to the Holi vacations, the case is probably only going to be heard on March 27.
On March 21, Arvind Kejriwal was taken into custody by the Enforcement Department. He was remanded to ED detention till March 28 by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court, effective March 22.
Kejriwal is alleged by the ED to have been a major conspirator in the Delhi Excise Policy scandal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case on August 17, 2022, regarding suspected anomalies in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021–2022, which is the basis for the ED’s money laundering investigation into the subject.
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena filed a complaint on July 20, 2022, which led to the registration of a CBI case.
AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other unidentified private individuals or businesses, are accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy during the policy-making process.
It has been claimed that the conspiracy involves “intentionally” leaving or creating policy gaps. These loopholes were purportedly designed to favor some conspirators and liquor license holders after the tender process.
In connection with the case, Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are already incarcerated.
The daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Bharat Rashtra Samiti politician K Kavitha was also taken into custody by the ED on March 15, 2024.