Delhi HC terms Arvind Kejriwal's arrest 'valid'; AAP hopes for 'justice' from Supreme Court

The Aam Aadmi Party leader, Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday said that they do not agree with the High Court's decision and further informed that they will approach the Supreme Court against it.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will move to the Supreme Court against the decision of the Delhi High Court dismissing the plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the Excise Policy money laundering case.

Addressing a press conference here today, Bharadwaj said there is talk of crores of rupees in the Excise case but ED and CBI could not recover a single illegal rupee.

"Whatever has happened till now in the so-called Excise Policy case, it can be said that the entire case is not about money laundering but it is the country's biggest political conspiracy within which there is a big conspiracy to destroy the Chief Minister, who has won with the highest number of votes as compared to other states. Till now, there has been talk of crores but ED and CBI have not recovered a single illegal rupee. This raises big questions on the investigation," he said.

Further, the AAP leader alleged that again and again, this point has been brought in the courts, and pressure was put on the witnesses to change their testimony in the case.

"They (witnesses) were told to change their previous testimony and give the testimony which the ED wants. All this is on record. Chandan Reddy who was pressured to change his statement, filed a writ in the High Court that he was beaten badly. Pressure was put on Arun Pillai to change his statement. All this is on record, not my allegations," Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

The court further stated that this court is of the opinion that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand have to be examined as per law and not as per the timing of elections.

Kejriwal's challenge to the timing of arrest before General elections in the absence of any mala fide on the part of ED is not sustainable, said the court.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a jibe at Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal after the latter's plea challenging his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement was dismissed by the high court.

"For the so-called Aam Aadmi chief minister, the court has clearly said that the law cannot be different for the common man and AAP's chief minister. The 'Aam Aadmi' cap has been pulled off as he (Arvind Kejriwal) wanted the treatment of a 'Khas Aadmi'," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said while addressing a joint press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi.

"The High Court's decision has shattered the arrogance of the Aam Aadmi Party on the hard ground of facts," he added.

Also, BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj said, "With today's judgement, the Delhi High Court has made it clear that Arvind Kejriwal had a very important role in the liquor scam. The court saw all the facts. The High Court has also made it clear that his arrest is not illegal at all. I think Arvind Kejriwal should resign on moral grounds."

Continuing the attack on Kejriwal, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "The court stated that there is enough evidence implicating that Arvind Kejriwal was involved in corruption. On the other hand, AAP has been claiming that no money trail has been found, while the court clarified that a money trail has been discovered and was spent in the preparations for elections. Now, the only question that arises is whether it is morally correct for Arvind Kejriwal to run the government from Tihar Jail?"

On the Delhi HC dismissing CM Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by ED in the Excise Policy money laundering case, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, "The lawyers of Arvind Kejriwal are engaged in inspecting all the documents and the court is constantly watching this matter. I have full hope that Arvind Kejriwal will soon get justice from the Supreme Court. There is a process of justice and there are many delays in the judicial process. There are many complexities in the PMLA Act, in which the provisions for getting bail are difficult."

"I have been saying continuously that this entire matter is the biggest political conspiracy since independence, this case has been made under a deep conspiracy and the purpose behind this case is not to investigate any scam, the purpose is to topple and eliminate Arvind Kejriwal and AAP, which was elected with a huge majority in Delhi and Punjab, an attempt is made to destroy the growing fame of the AAP and its achievement of achieving the status of a national party in 10 years, because the liquor scam has been done by the BJP. The money trail of Rs 60 crores was found, but till now no action has been taken against the leaders of BJP and in the case of Arvind Kejriwal ji, false witnesses are prepared, baseless allegations are made," he added.

After the Delhi High Court dismissed Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by ED in the Excise Policy money laundering case, Advocate Rishikesh Kumar, counsel for the Delhi CM, said that the order is amenable for a challenge in the Supreme Court and they are within their rights to challenge it.

"We have challenged the illegal arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. The High Court, in its finding, has said that the remand order is legal and secondly, they said that they had the ground to arrest. This was the finding of the High Court in today's decision. Because the order is amenable for a challenge in the Supreme Court we are waiting for the order to come. Once the detailed order is uploaded, we will challenge it before the Supreme Court as early as possible,' he said.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the excise policy case.

The trial court sent Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15, 2024. ED alleged that the Aam Adami Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged liquor scam.

The agency also claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the excise policy. The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi Excise Policy 2022, which was later scrapped. (ANI)