Come clean on timing of Kejriwal arrest: SC to ED
Bench tells the agency that ‘life and liberty’ is very important; Delhi Chief Minister’s petition argues that the action came just before Lok Sabha election in order to crush the Opposition
he Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) would have to justify the timing of the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case on March 21, barely a week after the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha election came into force.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta wound up the second consecutive day of hearings in a petition led by Mr. Kejriwal, on his fth furlough of remand till May 7, with a parting shot at the Central agency.
“Life and liberty is very important. We cannot deny that,” Justice Khanna reminded Additional Solicitor
TGeneral S.V. Raju, who will open the ED’s counter arguments on May 3.
Justice Khanna said the Central agency has to address the court “on the timing of his [Mr. Kejriwal’s] arrest before the elections”.
The court’s insistence that the agency should address the issue was signicant as the Delhi Chief Minister has based his petition on the argument that his arrest was timed to crush the Opposition ahead of the general election.
Mr. Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) he heads have portrayed the
ED as a “tool” for the ruling BJP.
“What was so imminent about my arrest? Was I a hardened criminal or a terrorist who would run away... So, did you leave a guilty Chief Minister to roam free all these years?” senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for the Chief Minister, had argued on Monday.
The ED has maintained that the arrest was based on material evidence. “Criminal” politicians cannot expect immunity from arrest on the grounds that they want to campaign for elections, the agency had retorted in an 87-page a«davit.