Supreme Court issues notice to ED on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging arrest.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate on a plea filed by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest in an alleged money laundering case related to Delhi’s excise policy.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta notified the probe agency and asked it to file a reply by April 24. The matter will be heard in the upcoming week starting April 29.
Kejriwal has moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court order, which dismissed his petition against the ED arrest and subsequent remand. The HC had said the agency was left with little option after he skipped the summons and refused to cooperate in the investigation.
The money laundering case concerns alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22, which the AAP government later withdrew.
The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21, shortly after the HC declined to grant him protection from coercive action. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
With the SC notice, the political slugfest over alleged misdeeds in the excise policy will likely continue with pending petitions in higher courts.
