Excise ‘scam’: No immediate relief for Delhi CM Kejriwal, Supreme Court issues notice to ED, next hearing on April 29

On Kejriwal’s petition against Delhi High Court verdict upholding his arrest, the apex court asked him to file rejoinder on ED’s reply by April 27

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, April 15

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging the Delhi High Court’s verdict upholding his arrest in a money-laundering case linked to the excise policy scam.

A Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta asked the ED to respond to Kejriwal’s petition by April 24.

It asked Kejriwal to file his rejoinder on the ED’s reply affidavit by April 27 and posted the matter for further hearing on April 29.

Despite repeated requests by senior counsel AM Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, to give an early date of hearing in view of the fact that the first round of polling in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was to be held on April 19, the Bench said April 29 was the earliest possible date to take up the matter.

Singhvi had earlier contended that the high court’s order was based on certain material that was suppressed from the petitioner.

A day after the Delhi High Court dismissed his petition against his arrest by the ED, Kejriwal had on April 10 moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court’s verdict.

The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21 after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the probe agency in the money laundering case.

On April 1, a Delhi Special Court sent Kejriwal to 14-day judicial custody till April 15 on the expiry of his ED custody.

The ED alleged that Kejriwal was the kingpin and the key conspirator of the excise scam and there were reasons to believe on the basis of material in its possession that the AAP leader was guilty of the offence of money laundering.

As Kejriwal continued to be in Tihar Jail under judicial custody, the BJP has been demanding his resignation, saying Delhi Government can’t be run from jail.

However, the Delhi High Court has refused to entertain at least three PILs seeking his resignation as it maintained that it was for the Lt Governor of Delhi to take call on the issue.

Spelling further trouble for beleaguered Delhi Chief Minister, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court had on April 9 dismissed his petition challenging his arrest by the ED, saying there was no violation of law or the Supreme Court’s verdicts.

Justice Sharma held that Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in Enforcement Directorate’s custody and later in judicial custody can’t be held to be illegal as the probe agency was in possession of “enough material” that led to his arrest, and the trial court remanded him in the custody of the agency by a well-reasoned order.

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