Arvind Kejriwal: The jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal‘s appeal contesting his arrest on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the liquor policy case was taken up by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The ED’s Additional Solicitor General, SV Raju, was questioned by the Supreme Court regarding the delay in questioning and investigating the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Supreme Court’s Consideration of Interim Bail
The case is being heard by a two-judge bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. The Supreme Court hinted on May 3 that it might decide to grant Kejriwal interim bail due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, and that decision was made days before Tuesday’s hearing.
“When we began the investigation, our investigation was not directly against him (Kejriwal). His role came up during the investigation. That’s why, in the beginning, not a single question was put regarding him. The investigation was not focused on him,” SV Raju said.
To this, the bench replied, “This is an unusual case. Factually, there are no contradictions in the statements. They can’t be presumed to be in favour of the petitioner.” “Why did you take so long, and why were the questions not asked? We take it that no question was asked about him. The only issue was why were you delaying?” it further queried.
Explanation of Investigative Process
“It would have been called malafide” if he “started asking about Kejriwal at the outset,” according to the Additional Solicitor General. “It takes time to understand. We can’t put it overnight. Things have to be confirmed.” In addition, the court informed SV Raju that it desired to view the file both prior to and following the arrest of AAP leader Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi.
“There is one prosecution complaint after Manish Sisodia’s bail was rejected, Rs 1,100 crore attached,” he said. To this, the court asked, “Mr Raju, how did it become 1,100 crore in two years? You said the proceeds of crime were 100 crore earlier.” “It’s due to the policy’s advantages,” SV Raju retorted. In response, Justice Khanna declared that the “entire profit is not the proceeds of crime.”
Request for Documents
The documents from Sarath Reddy, the Hyderabad-based businessman who was detained in November 2023 but later turned approver in the Delhi liquor policy case, as well as those from before and after Kejriwal’s arrest were also requested by the court.
“We can show that Kejriwal demanded 100 crore. At the nascent stage, he was not the focus and the investigating agency (ED) was not looking at that. The role became clearer only when the investigation progressed,” SV Raju said.
Petition and Denial
Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently being held at the Tihar Jail, filed a petition contesting his arrest and remand on April 9; the Delhi High Court denied it, and the day after that, Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court.
In addition, according to the AAP national convenor’s petition, his arrest was carried out “in a motivated manner” and was only the result of contradictory, “highly belated statements of co-accused” individuals who have since changed their plea to approvers. It has requested that the arrest be deemed “illegal” and that he be released.
