The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant any interim relief to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the national agency on the petition filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest and subsequent remand by ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The High Court directed ED to file a reply by April 2 on Kejriwal’s interim plea seeking release from ED custody and listed the matter for further hearing on April 3.
Representing the Delhi Chief Minister, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi contended that Kejriwal’s arrest in the money laundering case was based on statements by accused persons who later turned approvers.
He added that there was no other evidence against the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The Senior Counsel said that there was a species called approvers… whether for good or bad motives, the courts had earlier dealt with phrases like Jaichand and Trojan Horses. The history has looked very harshly at these Jaichand and Trojan horses, who give daga (betrayal), he added.
Singhvi compared the approvers to Jaichand, who is said to have betrayed Indian rulers by allying with Ghurid invaders.
Stating that an approver was the most untrustworthy friend, the Senior Advocate aaserted that Kejriwal was arrested based on statements of persons who were earlier arrested in the case and later got bail after turning approver.
ED had arrested the Delhi Chief Minister from his residence on March 21, after questioning him for over two hours. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy scam.
On March 22, Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Courts sent Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28.
Appearing for the national agency, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju alleged that Kejriwal was the kingpin of the Delhi excise scam and was directly involved in the use of proceeds of crime accounting to over Rs 100 crore.
The ASG contended that even during the time of search on March 21, Kejriwal did not give correct facts.
The agency sought 10-day custody of the accused on the grounds that it needed confrontation to recover the money trail. It was a fit case to grant remand, said the ASG.
Three Senior Counsels- Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Vikram Chaudhary and Ramesh Gupta appeared for Kejriwal.
Singhvi submitted that till yesterday, in the proceedings before the High Court, ED did not disclose that Kejriwal was being probed as an accused in the case.
He submitted that the threshold for arrest under PMLA was very high.
Singhvi contended that ED failed to show the necessity to arrest the incumbent Chief Minister of the national capital, noting that there was no direct evidence.
The case pertained to a complaint made by Lieutenant General of delhi, VK Saxena in 2022, alleging irregularities in the framing of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.
The complaint alleged that a criminal conspiracy had been hatched by leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAM), including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other unidentified private persons/ entities at the stage of the formulation of the policy.
The LG alleged that loopholes were left or created ‘intentionally’ in the policy, in order to favour some liquor licensees and conspirators after the tender process.
The arrest of Kejriwal in the case has marked the first instance in India where a sitting Chief Minister was put behind bars.