Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to grant protection from arrest to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy money laundering case.
After hearing both the parties, the court said that it is not inclined to grant relief at this stage.
A division bench comprising of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain has, however, granted liberty to Enforcement Directorate to file response to Kejriwal’s application, reported Live Law.
The next hearing of the application has been listed along the Delhi CM's main petition on April 22.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for Kejriwal, contended that the ED was “attempting a non level playing field” at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are around the corner.
Singhvi also said that the summons did mention “in what capacity” was Kejriwal called.
“The only object is. Come to my parlour. Don't have coffee. I'll arrest you…. What information on earth do you want. I'll give you,” he said.
Talking to news agency ANI after the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju said that the petition is not maintainable. "According to us, it's not maintainable, it's a desperate attempt for him to file the petition. Delhi HC stated that we are not inclined to grant an interim relief."
Arvind Kejriwal had filed an application in the Delhi High Court seeking interim relief from arrest. This was a part of his petition challenging the nine ED summons he received in the money laundering case.
Earlier today, Delhi minister Atishi said that Kejriwal wants to join ED investigations and cooperate with the agency.
"Delhi CM Kejriwal wants to join the ED investigation and cooperate with the agency. But, we believe that the ED is not an independent agency. It does not want to conduct investigation. It is a political tool of the BJP," Atishi added.
According to the ED's last summons in the case, the probe agency called Kejriwal to appear before it on March 21.
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court sought ED's response on Kejriwal's plea challenging the summons issued to him.
Through plea, Kejriwal has sought the declaration of section (2) (s) of PMLA to be ultra vires, unconstitutional and arbitrary insofar to the extent that it is construed to include a political party within its ambit and sweep.
The investigation in Delhi liquor policy scam case has been going on since August 22, 2022. As many as 6 prosecution complaints with thousands of documents have been filed so far.
(With agency inputs)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.