Today, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against his apprehension by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering case will be heard by the Supreme Court.
The decision will be made by a bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, who postponed their decision on the case until May 17.
The ED detained Mr. Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on 21 March in connection with a money laundering investigation pertaining to the purported Delhi liquor policy fraud.
He has filed a petition to the Delhi High Court’s April 9 ruling, which upheld his arrest in the matter.
The central investigate agency had “little option” after the 55-year-old lawmaker ignored many summonses and declined to cooperate with the inquiry, according to the top court, which affirmed the politician’s arrest in the case.
On April 15, the Supreme Court had requested that the central investigative agency respond to his plea contesting his apprehension.
The Supreme Court had earlier on May 10 given Arvind Kejriwal 21 days of temporary release so he could run for the Lok Sabha elections. On June 2, one day after the final round of the seven-phase polls was supposed to conclude, he was told to turn himself in.
On June 20, a trial court in Delhi granted him bail in the case. But the following day, the ED filed a motion in the Delhi High Court, arguing that the trial court’s decision to give him bail was “perverse,” “one-sided,” and “wrong-sided,” and that the conclusions were based on unrelated evidence.
On June 21, the high court issued a temporary stay on the trial court’s bail decision until an order on ED’s request for temporary relief was made. On June 25, the high court also issued a comprehensive order that stayed the trial court’s decision.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) detained him five days later in relation to the corruption investigation involving the purported liquor policy scam.
The central investigative agencies assert that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021–2022 was modified irregularly, and that licence holders received unfair favours.
In November 2021, the government of Delhi implemented a new policy for alcohol vendors in the nation’s capital. As part of the new policy, the Kejriwal-led administration banned alcohol sales from government-run establishments and permitted private parties to seek for licences to operate businesses.
The strategy was supposed to help curb illegal marketing, boost revenue for the Delhi government, and help consumers.
The Delhi government, however, later scrapped the new liquor policy and reverted to the old one.
