No relief for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal yet, Supreme Court to take up plea on April 29

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, April 15

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

Punjab cm meets him in Tihar Jail

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann met Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail on Monday and alleged he was being treated like a terrorist even as AAP said its government in Delhi will start functioning from jail with Kejriwal planning to meet two ministers from next week.

ED told to file reply by April 24

• The Supreme Court has asked the ED to respond to the Delhi Chief Minister’s petition against his arrest by April 24
• The Chief Minister has been told to file rejoinder to the ED’s reply by April 27, and the matter will be heard on April 29

A Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta which asked the ED to respond to Kejriwal’s petition by April 24 gave him time till April 27 to file his rejoinder to the ED’s reply affidavit and posted the matter for 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.

Meanwhile, Delhi Special Judge Kaveri Baweja sent the Delhi Chief Minister, who was produced before her through video-conferencing, to Tihar Jail till April 23 after the ED sought an extension of his judicial custody on the ground that the investigation was at a crucial stage.

Kejriwal had on April 10 moved the top court challenging the high court’s April 9 verdict, dismissing his petition against his March 21 arrest by the ED. The probe agency had arrested him after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action in the money laundering case.

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 continues to be in Tihar Jail under judicial custody, the BJP has been demanding his resignation, saying the Delhi Government can’t be run from jail. However, the Delhi High Court has refused to entertain three PILs seeking his resignation as it maintained that it was for the Lt Governor of Delhi to take a call on the issue.

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