Delhi CM accuses ED of political vendetta as court extends custody till Apr 1
His lawyer says the CM wants to cooperate in the investigation but not on ED’s grounds
NEW DELHI: In a rare move, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, under arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), argued his own case in Rouse Avenue court, claiming the motive of the ED was to crush his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The ED had produced him before Rouse Avenue court Special Judge Kaveri Baweja as his current six-day custody was ending on Thursday. The AAP national convener made the submissions in Hindi after getting permission from the court despite his lawyers being present.
Kejriwal said: “I am named by four witnesses in the excise policy case. Are four statements enough to arrest a sitting CM?”
He alleged that Sarath Chandra Reddy donated Rs 55 crore to the BJP. “I have evidence of this. Money trail was established as he donated the funds after being arrested,” the chief minister said.
Reddy is the director of Aurobindo Pharma Limited and one of the co-accusedturned-approvers in the case.
Kejriwal said the ED’s only mission was to “trap’’ him in the liquor policy case.
“I am not opposing the remand petition of the ED. The ED can keep me in custody for as many days as it wants, But this is a scam,’’ he said.
The Delhi CM said that the ED had two objectives — one is to crush AAP, and “the second is to create a smokescreen and run an extortion racket behind it through which they are collecting money.’’
The court sent Kejriwal to ED custody till April 1 even though the ED had sought a seven-day extension for further interrogation in the money laundering case. The court said he has to be produced before it
» He said a smokescreen of the AAP being corrupt has been created before the nation
» ED said in its fresh remand plea that Kejriwal was giving evasive replies and not disclosing passwords of his digital devices
on April 1 at 11 am.
Kejriwal’s advocate Ramesh Gupta said the chief minister wants to cooperate in the investigation but not on the ED’s grounds for which the agency is seeking extension of his custodial remand.
As he was being taken to the courtroom for the hearing in the case, Kejriwal told reporters that “this is a political conspiracy”.
AAP ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Saurabh Bharadwaj along with the chief minister’s wife