Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in connection with a money-laundering case involving the now-canceled Delhi excise policy, will be released from custody on April 1. He is scheduled to appear at the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi on Monday at 11 a.m.
Arvind Kejriwal was detained by the ED on March 21 in relation to the case, and he was remanded to their custody until April 1.
The Aam Aadmi Party national convenor has also filed a petition in the Delhi high court challenging his arrest, alleging that the investigating agency infringed upon his fundamental rights. The court has served a notice to the ED, requesting a response by April 2. The hearing is set to continue on April 3.
The hearing comes a day after top leaders of the INDIA bloc on Sunday came together at the ‘Loktantra Bachao’ (Save Democracy) rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital, the first such show of strength by the opposition after the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, and slammed the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and gave a fervent call to the alliance partners to unite in national interest.
Top updates on Arvind Kejriwal’s hearing in Delhi court
- On March 28, the Rouse Avenue Court extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of Arvind 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.
- The ED said Arvind Kejriwal’s statements were recorded over five days but he was “evasive” in his response.
- In a heated exchange during the hearing, Arvind Kejriwal, who himself addressed the court, said 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?” Arvind Kejriwal said.
- The court noted the ED’s submissions that the chief minister also needed to be confronted with the data extracted from digital devices along with some other details.
- During the hearing, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Gopal Rai remained present in the courtroom. Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, and two children also attended the court proceedings.
- Appearing for the ED, additional solicitor general SV Raju sought time to file a detailed reply in the matter and alleged that “they deliberately didn’t serve us a copy so that we were not prepared”.
- Sunita Kejriwal on Thursday claimed Arvind Kejriwal was not keeping well and is being “harassed a lot”. Sunita Kejriwal said, “He has not been keeping well. His sugar levels are fluctuating. He is being harassed a lot. This tyranny won’t last and people will give a reply.”
- Meanwhile, the Delhi high court on March 28 rejected a PIL seeking the removal of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal from the post of Delhi chief minister following his arrest in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
- According to US State Department spokesman Mathew Miller, Kejriwal’s case is being monitored in Washington. A senior official from the US embassy in New Delhi was called by Indian officials in protest over those remarks. A spokesman for the ministry of external affairs said that the statements made by the State Department were inappropriate.
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