Probe against Kejriwal still at a nascent stage, says ED as it opposes plea against arrest
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday opposed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest and remand in connection with the nowscrapped excise policylinked money laundering case, saying that its “investigation is at a nascent stage” as far as he was concerned.
“Today, as far as petitioner [Mr. Kejriwal] is concerned, investigation is not over. He has come [to court] at the beginning of investigation when he has just been arrested. Investigation is at a nascent stage,” Additional SolicitorGeneral (ASG) S.V. Raju told Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who reserved judgment on Mr. Kejriwal’s plea.
During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek M. Singhvi, representing the
Chief Minister, questioned the timing of arrest of the AAP national convener ahead of the Lok Sabha election, saying: “This case reeks of timing issues.”
“If the first summon is October 30, 2023 in a liquor scam of early 2022 and arrest is of March 2024, then the timing reeks of basic structure issue, level playing field issue, free and fair election issue,” Mr. Singhvi argued.
Mr. Raju, appearing for the ED, objected to the allegations emphasising that the probe began in 2022 when there were no elections.
“Take the case of a terrorist who is a politician who has blown up an Army vehicle. He says I’ve to stand in the elections, so you can’t touch me. What kind of an argument is this?” Mr. Raju said.
Mr. Singhvi objected to the analogy terming it “inappropriate”.
The ASG said the agency was “not shooting in the dark” and there was Income Tax data, WhatsApp chats and statements of “hawala operators”.
“The money trail is there. We have located the money trail. It may be that the money has been used of. The money can’t be found. That does not mean that offence of money laundering has not taken place,” Mr. Raju said adding that the money was used by the AAP in the 2022 Goa Assembly election.