Delhi court gives ED custody of Kejriwal till March 28 in the excise money laundering case
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the “kingpin” and “key conspirator” in the excise money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate told a Delhi court on Friday. The court remanded Kejriwal to the ED custody till March 28. The Delhi Chief Minister was arrested on Thursday night.
The ED had sought 10day custody but the Special PMLA Court of Judge Kaveri Baweja said Kejriwal will be produced before the court on March 28 at 2 pm.
MONEY TRAIL
During the hearing, the ED claimed to have uncovered a money trail that showed that AAP received a bribe of ₹100 crore from what the agency claimed the ‘South Group’. He demanded ₹100 crore from some accused from the ‘South Group’ for contesting the Punjab and Goa elections in 2022, Additional SolicitorGeneral SV Raju, appearing for the ED, told the court.
THE CHARGES
The money trail, Raju said, showed that ₹45crore “kickback” used in the Goa elections came via four hawala routes. He said the statements of the accused and witnesses have been corroborated through Records (CDR).
To back its charges against Kejriwal, the ED is also banking on Srinivasulu Reddy, YSR Congress Party’s Lok Sabha MP and businessman, who turned an approver in the case and recorded his statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC on July 17, 2023. Reddy accepted to meeting Kejriwal on March 16, 2021 after learning from
Call
Detail newspaper advertisements on the new excise policy. Kejriwal, claimed Reddy, told him that everyone was welcome to do business in Delhi.
When Reddy met BRS leader K Kavitha, daughter of K Chandrashekar Rao, former Telangana CM, in the same month of 2021, she is said to have told him that Kejriwal called her and asked for ₹100 crore. Reddy claimed that Kavitha, who was later arrested by the ED, told him to arrange ₹50 crore.
Reddy’s son, Raghav Magunta, too, gave a statement to the ED, seconding its version that a ₹25crore bribe was allegedly paid to Abhishek Boinpally, and Gorantla Buchibabu, both part of the ‘South Group’.
The ED also alleged that the proceeds of the crime went beyond the ₹100crore bribe received by AAP as it included the profits made by the bribepayers, and that it exceeded ₹600 crore.