Delhi liquor scam: Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody extended till May 7
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody has been extended till May 7.
- Apr 23, 2024,
- Updated Apr 23, 2024 2:36 PM IST
Delhi's Rouse Avenu court on Tuesday extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody till May 7. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
On Monday, the Delhi High Court listed Kejriwal's petition - challenging the ED summonses - for hearing on May 15. A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait granted time to the AAP leader, arrested by the agency on March 21 after the high court refused to grant him interim protection from coercive action, to file a rejoinder to the reply submitted by the ED.
The counsel for the ED argued that the petition has become infructuous as Kejriwal has already been arrested in the money laundering case. "The affidavit addresses preliminary issues (of) how the matter is (now) infructuous," he said.
The agency's lawyer told the court that the arrest was challenged by Kejriwal in a separate petition, which was dismissed by the high court, and his appeal is currently pending in the Supreme Court. The bench, also comprising Justice Manoj Jain, then asked as to "what is left in the matter".
Senior counsel appearing for Kejriwal said he would file a rejoinder to the ED's stand, emphasising that the "initial action" taken by the anti-money laundering agency was not as per the law (PMLA).
The AAP national convenor had approached the HC in the wake of the ninth summons issued by the ED asking him to appear before it on March 21. The high court bench had on March 20 asked the ED to file its reply with respect to the maintainability of the petition. The next day, it asked ED to also respond to Kejriwal's plea seeking protection from arrest, saying "at this stage" it was not inclined to grant him any interim relief.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED later that evening and is currently lodged in Tihar jail in judicial custody. The federal probe agency has alleged that other accused in the case were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the now-scrapped excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them and kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
In his petition, Kejriwal has also challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the PMLA with respect to arrest, questioning and grant of bail. He has raised several issues, including whether a political party is covered under the anti-money laundering law. It alleged that "arbitrary procedure" under PMLA was being used to create a non-level playing field for the general elections to "skew the electoral process in the favour of the ruling party at the Centre".
(With inputs from PTI)
Delhi's Rouse Avenu court on Tuesday extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody till May 7. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
On Monday, the Delhi High Court listed Kejriwal's petition - challenging the ED summonses - for hearing on May 15. A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait granted time to the AAP leader, arrested by the agency on March 21 after the high court refused to grant him interim protection from coercive action, to file a rejoinder to the reply submitted by the ED.
The counsel for the ED argued that the petition has become infructuous as Kejriwal has already been arrested in the money laundering case. "The affidavit addresses preliminary issues (of) how the matter is (now) infructuous," he said.
The agency's lawyer told the court that the arrest was challenged by Kejriwal in a separate petition, which was dismissed by the high court, and his appeal is currently pending in the Supreme Court. The bench, also comprising Justice Manoj Jain, then asked as to "what is left in the matter".
Senior counsel appearing for Kejriwal said he would file a rejoinder to the ED's stand, emphasising that the "initial action" taken by the anti-money laundering agency was not as per the law (PMLA).
The AAP national convenor had approached the HC in the wake of the ninth summons issued by the ED asking him to appear before it on March 21. The high court bench had on March 20 asked the ED to file its reply with respect to the maintainability of the petition. The next day, it asked ED to also respond to Kejriwal's plea seeking protection from arrest, saying "at this stage" it was not inclined to grant him any interim relief.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED later that evening and is currently lodged in Tihar jail in judicial custody. The federal probe agency has alleged that other accused in the case were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the now-scrapped excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them and kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
In his petition, Kejriwal has also challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the PMLA with respect to arrest, questioning and grant of bail. He has raised several issues, including whether a political party is covered under the anti-money laundering law. It alleged that "arbitrary procedure" under PMLA was being used to create a non-level playing field for the general elections to "skew the electoral process in the favour of the ruling party at the Centre".
(With inputs from PTI)