Excise Policy Case: Supreme Court to hear Arvind Kejriwal's plea against ED arrest today

The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea challenging the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his subsequent remand in an excise policy-related money laundering case. Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will hear the matter today. 

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is currently under judicial custody over suspicion of his links in alleged money laundering and excise policy scam cases.

Evidence gathered by the ED indicates that Arvind Kejriwal participated in a conspiracy and actively engaged in utilizing and concealing proceeds of crime. The ED investigation also suggests his involvement both personally and in his capacity as the convenor of the AAP.

Kejriwal moved the top court after the Delhi high court dismissed his plea on April 9, rejecting the “political vendetta” arguments amid the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The Delhi HC had highlighted that the Delhi CM had skipped nine ED summons.

Arvind Kejriwal calls ED arrest ‘motivated’

While filing an appeal in the apex court, he mentioned that his arrest was made in a “motivated manner" in the middle of the election cycle. His plea mentioned that that arrest was made after the declaration of the Lok Sabha 2024 election schedule.

Seeking urgent intervention from the Supreme Court, the Chief Minister's appeal stated, that it is an issue of illegal curtailment of Kejriwal's liberty.

Calling Arvind Kejriwal's arrest an “unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy" based on “free and fair elections" and “federalism", the petition seeks the release of Delhi CM from jail. 

With the arrest, the ED has let its process “to be used and misused by vested interests" as an instrument of oppression to not only "invade the liberty of the political opponents" in the midst of general election, 2024 of such vested interests but also “to tarnish their reputation and self-esteem," the plea stated.