Delhi HC refuses to interfere with Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by ED

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to immediately interfere with the remand of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case linked to the nowscrapped Delhi excise policy. Instead, his petition for interim relief will be considered along with his main petition, the court said.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the ED on Mr. Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest on March 21 and subsequent remand to the agency on March 22 till March 28. While posting the case for hearing on April 3, the judge said that to reach a conclusion as to whether the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor was entitled to immediate release or not, she would “necessarily have to decide the issues raised in the main petition”.

In his main petition, Mr. Kejriwal has three pleas: to declare the arrest as illegal; to quash the remand order; and to release him from custody.

“This Court is further of the opinion that the present petition raises several issues of legality and validity regarding the arrest and remand of the petitioner,” the judge said.

The court rejected the contention of senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Mr. Kejriwal, that no reply was required to be filed on behalf of the ED.

During the hearing, Additional SolicitorGeneral S.V. Raju, appearing for the Central agency, said that the “bulky” petition was served upon them only on Tuesday, and three weeks’ time should be given to bring their stand on record.

Meanwhile, at a public event on Wednesday, Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena said, “I can assure the people of Delhi that the government will not be run from jail.”