Delhi excise policy scam: SC to hear Arvind Kejriwal's plea against HC order upholding arrest

The Supreme Court on Monday will hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea against a Delhi High Court order that upheld his arrest and remand by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the excise policy scam.

A top court bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will hear the matter. On April 9, the Delhi HC rejected Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by the ED and remand order passed by the trial court in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case. 

While upholding Kejriwal's arrest, the high court said that the ED was left with "little option" after the Delhi CM skipped repeated summonses and refused to cooperate with the investigation, news agency PTI reported. Arvind Kejriwal , who is in judicial custody till April 15, is currently lodged in Tihar jail after he was arrested in the excise policy case on March 21.

The national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in his petition his arrest was made "in a motivated manner" and was solely based on subsequent, contradictory and "highly belated statements of co-accused" who have now turned approvers. The petition sought Kejriwal's release and declaration of his arrest as "illegal".  

Supreme Court to hear Arvind Kejriwal's plea: Top points to know

1. While quashing the petition, the Delhi High Court said that Kejriwal was conspired with others and was "actively involved in using proceeds of crime," as per the evidence given by the Enforcement Directorate.
2. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma mentioned that ED placed enough material in the form of 'hawala' material and statements of approvers to suggest that money was sent in cash for Goa elections.
3. "The contention that Kejriwal could have been questioned through VC is to be rejected. It is not for the accused to decide how the investigation is to be done. It cannot be as per the convenience of the Accused. This court won't set two sets of laws- One for the commons and the other for the public servants. There cannot be any specific privilege for any one including the Chief Minister," the high court said further.
4. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday said that Kejriwal promised the work in the national capital won't stop whether he is inside or outside jail.
5. He also attacked the BJP and said, "Those who say that they would not let the government run from jail, too have accepted defeat. They accepted that the work of Delhi would not stop. The Kejriwal government will run from jail. Work will keep happening."
6. AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who was in jail in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam and got out on bail earlier this month, also hit out at the BJP and claimed that the Delhi CM is being "tortured" inside Tihar jail at the behest of the Centre.
7. Singh claimed that the jail administration indulged in "inhuman" behaviour and refused to grant Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal permission to meet him in person. 
8. "Efforts are being made to break his morale and now and then an attempt is being made to destroy even the minimum rights and facilities available to anyone and all this is being done openly," Singh said. 
9. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann will meet Kejriwal inside Tihar Jail at around 12 noon today, the Aam Aadmi Party.
10. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded Arvind Kejriwal's resignation on moral grounds. Bansuri Swaraj, BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from New Delhi, said that the High Court has made it clear that his arrest is "not illegal at all."
11. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
12. Kejriwal was arrested for alleged money laundering and corruption in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.