Delhi liquor policy case: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail, will continue to remain in prison as the Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed his plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam. According to AAP, the Delhi CM will approach the Supreme Court against a high court order. Meanwhile, the AAP is hopeful that the Supreme Court will provide relief to Kejriwal in the same way it granted bail to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh recently.
Here's your 10-point cheat sheet to this story
- The Aam Aadmi Party national convenor was arrested on March 21, hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the Enforcement Directorate. The next day, the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi had remanded him in the federal anti-money laundering agency's custody till March 28.
- On March 28, the Rouse Avenue Court extended the ED custody of Kejriwal till April 1, saying the agency provided “sufficient reasons”, such as the need for him to be confronted with material collected and statements recorded, to permit his further custodial interrogation.
- On March 28, Kejriwal himself made submissions before Delhi's Rouse Avenue court. He said that there were only four statements, including C Arvind, where he claimed that “he gave some documentation to Manish Sisodia in my presence”. "Several bureaucrats and MLAs came regularly to my home. Are these four statements made by different people sufficient to arrest a sitting Chief Minister?" Kejriwal said.
- On April 1, he was sent to judicial custody till April 15. The ED had sought 15-day judicial custody of Kejriwal, saying he was "totally uncooperative". The ED said that Kejriwal's statements were recorded over five days but he was found to be giving evasive replies and concealing material information during custodial interrogation.
- AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia (currently in jail) and Sanjay Singh (out on bail), along with Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha (currently in jail), were also arrested in the case.
- The Supreme Court on April 2 granted Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh bail in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam after the Enforcement Directorate said it had no objections. Singh was lodged in the high-security prison in the national capital since October 13, 2023.
- K Kavitha's judicial custody was extended on April 9 by two weeks in the Delhi excise policy-related money laundering case after the ED alleged that she made attempts to influence the witnesses and tampered with evidence. Special judge for ED and CBI cases Kaveri Baweja took note of ED' submission that Kavitha made attempts to influence the witnesses and tampered with the evidence.
- Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, has been accused of being a key member of the "South Group", which allegedly paid Rs 100 crore to the ruling AAP in Delhi kickbacks for its Goa election campaign via one of the arrested businessmen in return for a big share of liquor licences.
- The case pertains to the alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped. The case originated from a report presented by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, highlighting purported procedural deficiencies in the development of the policy. The report said "arbitrary and unilateral decisions" taken by AAP leader Manish Sisodia in his capacity as Excise Minister had resulted in "financial losses to the exchequer" estimated at more than Rs 580 crore.
- Delhi Lieutenant Governor recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy. Subsequently, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Also Read: 'ED gave enough proof': This is what Delhi High Court said on Arvind Kejriwal's petition
