ED’S only mission is to trap me and crush AAP, alleges Kejriwal
Kejriwal’s ED custody extended till April 1. Delhi CM also said no court had found him guilty
Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court has reserved its order on custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested last week on corruption charges.
Last week Kejriwal was sent to custody of the arresting agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), for seven days.
Kejriwal’s ED custody has been extended by another four days in the alleged liquor policy scam.
Kejriwal will now be in the probe agency’s custody till April 1.
That custody ends on Thursday, and the probe agency has sought a further seven days to continue questioning the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.earlier on Thursday a defiant Kejriwal rose to address the court directly, and accused the probe agency of trying “to crush” his party.
Kejriwal pointed out - as the AAP has since his arrest - no part of the alleged Rs100 crore in bribes had been recovered. He also said no court had found him guilty.
“I was arrested... but no court has proved me guilty. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed 31,000 pages (of chargesheets) and ED filed 25,000 pages. Even if you read them together... the question remains... why have I been arrested?” Kejriwal asked the court.
Given just a few minutes to speak, the AAP leader also said his name only figured four times in those tens of thousands of pages, and that one of those four was C Arvind and not Arvind Kejriwal.
C Arvind was ex-deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s secretary, and he has told the authorities that Sisodia - who was arrested in this case in February - handed over “some documents.”
“My name came just four times... and once it was ‘C Arvind’. He said that in his presence Sisodiaji gave me some documents.
“But MLAS came to my house daily... to give me files, to discuss the government. Is a statement like this enough to arrest a siting Chief Minister?” he asked.
The AAP leader had been expected to make a big revelation in this case; his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, declared her husband would offer insights into the location of the alleged Rs100 crore.
In court, Kejriwal referred to the statements of approvers, or government witnesses, who had earlier been arrested in this case, suggesting they had been coerced into accusing him.
“The ED had only one mission - to trap me,” he alleged.
“Three statements were given (by one witness)... but the court only saw those that accused me. Why? This is not right.”
Another witness, he said, had given six statements that did not name the Chief Minister, but he was released ater a seventh that did so.
“If there really is a scam of 100 crore... where is the money?”
The Chief Minister also referred to a third witness - Sarath Reddy - who he claimed had donated Rs50 crore to the BJP. “I have proof... that they are running a racket,” he declared.
“Where is the money … the main case came forward ater the probe began….they are trying to create a smoke screen to crush AAP…. There is a money trail established where Sarath Reddy has given Rs 55 crore to BJP,” questioned Kejriwal in court.
In a brief but urgent statement, Kejriwal also accused the ED - which the opposition claims is used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to target rivals, particularly before elections - had been told to create a “smokescreen... to allow BJP to run an extortion racket through which they collect money.”
To all of this, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, counter-accused Kejriwal of “playing to the gallery.”
“How does he know how many documents are with ED? This is all a figment of his imagination,” Raju declared.
“AAP received kickbacks which they used in the Goa election... there is a clear-cut chain. We have statements and documents to show money came through hawala (illegal networks),” he said.
“We have material to show this very person (Kejriwal) demanded Rs100 crore kickbacks.” Late last night the Delhi High Court refused a petition by Mr Kejriwal challenging his arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam. The court, instead, issued a notice asking the ED to respond to the petition.
The probe agency time till April 2 to do so. The next hearing in this case is on April 3.