Delhi Court Remands Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal To ED Custody In Liquor Policy Case Till March 28

A Delhi Court on Friday remanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to six days of Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam case till March 28.Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order after Kejriwal was produced today following his arrest last night by the central probe agency, hours after a division bench of the Delhi High Court refused to pass orders granting him interim protection from coercive action.Kejriwal had skipped nine summons issued to him by ED. Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are also accused in the case and are presently in judicial custody.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for the agency had sought 10 days remand. ED alleged that Arvind Kejriwal is the "kingpin" of Delhi excise scam and is directly involved in the use of proceeds of crime accounting to over Rs. 100 crores. Even at the time of search last night, it is alleged that Kejriwal did not give correct facts. "Confrontation is required. We need to recover the money trail. It is a fit case to grant remand," ASG said.Three Senior counsel- Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Vikram Chaudhary and Ramesh Gupta appeared for Kejriwal.Singhvi submitted that till yesterday, in the proceedings before High Court, ED did not disclose that Kejriwal is being probed as an accused in the case. He submitted that the threshold for arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is very high. Section 19 PMLA provides arrest may be effected if the agency, on the basis of material in its possession, has reason to believe that the accused has been "guilty" of an offence punishable under the Act. Singhvi said ED failed to show the "necessity" to arrest the incumbent Chief Minister of the national capital. "There is no direct evidence," he claimed.Singhvi further urged the Court not to look at remand mechanically and submitted that the issue requires a significant judicial mind. "There are larger issues of democracy involved," he said.Courtroom ExchangeASG informed the Court that all compliances under the PMLA had been observed. "His relatives have been informed. Copy of remand application given. Grounds of arrest furnished to Mr. Kejriwal in writing. As far as sub section 2 (of Section 19) is concerned which requires sending to the adjudicating authority the sealed envelope copy of the order of arrest, we have complied," he submitted.So far as the case against Kejriwal is concerned, ASG read the remand application in court as per which Kejriwal was in constant touch with AAP's former communications in-charge Vijay Nair, who allegedly acted as the middleman between AAP and South Group, the entity which allegedly orchestrated the Excise policy scam. ASG further claimed that the allegations are not only corroborated by statements of the approver (Hyderabad-based businessman P. Sarath Chandra Reddy), but was also supported by Call Data Records."Mr. Kejriwal demanded kickbacks from the South Group in exchange of giving favours to them," ED claimed. Singhvi questioned the genuineness of statements given by Reddy (approver) and criticized the central agency for alleged "tactics" in making a case against Kejriwal. "Witness 1 gives a statement, nothing about Kejriwal. He gives further statements, nothing about Kejriwal. After that, step 2 is arrest the Witness. Step 3 is deny him bail and oppose the bail. Step 4 is one fine morning you have a deal of approver. Step 5 he comes up with brilliant statement next day about Kejriwal. The next step is to record statement of a co-accused. This is the four or five facets. There is neither necessity nor need to arrest. Nothing to show that he cannot give the information without arrest. It is the first time in the history of India that a sitting Chief Minister is arrested."However, ASG submitted that weightage to be given to an approver statement is a matter of trial. "It can't be seen in a remand."Singhvi then suggested that the timing of arrest is influenced by the upcoming general elections, Singhvi said, "Four top leaders of the party including him are arrested. This means you have a verdict before the first vote is cast." Chaudhary also said, "Were you waiting for elections to start so that I'm prevented. So that you can prevent me from contesting or participating in the election which is the right of every politician."ED has alleged that Delhi's excise policy was changed to fund the Goa elections; proceeds of crime of about Rs. 45 crores received from the South Group were used by AAP during the election campaign in Goa in 2021-22. Thus, ED said Kejriwal is liable both individually and vicariously."Aam Aadmi party is a beneficiary but it doesn't exist individually. It is a company. Every person who is involved in the functioning of the company is responsible and shall be deemed to be guilty. Apart from personal liability, he (Kejriwal) is also liable to be punished under vicarious liability. ...

Delhi Court Remands Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal To ED Custody In Liquor Policy Case Till March 28

Nupur Thapliyal

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