The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the timing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which happened just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta directed Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to furnish a response regarding the timing of the arrest and emphasised the significance of safeguarding life and liberty.
“Life and liberty are exceedingly important. You can’t deny that,” the bench remarked, as quoted by news agency PTI.
The bench requested the probe agency to provide a comprehensive reply during the next hearing of Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest in the money laundering case related to the excise policy case. The hearing is likely to take place on Friday, following a temporary suspension of proceedings due to judges sitting in different combinations from Wednesday onwards, PTI reported.
Kejriwal, currently held under judicial custody in Tihar jail since his arrest on March 21, faces allegations concerning corruption and money laundering in the implementation of the Delhi government's now-defunct excise policy for 2021-22.
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Supreme Court Questioned Kejriwal Skipping Multiple ED Summonses
Furthermore, during a hearing on Monday, the Supreme Court questioned Kejriwal's absence before the ED despite multiple summonses for recording statements. Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta inquired whether Kejriwal could challenge his arrest on the grounds of non-recording of his version. They also questioned why Kejriwal did not file a bail application before the trial court and challenged the assertion that his statements were not recorded, stating, "If you don't go for recording of section 50 statements, then you can't take the defence that his statement was not recorded", as quoted by PTI.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, argued against the legality of the arrest, emphasising the lack of evidence connecting Kejriwal to the allegations.
Singhvi pointed out that Kejriwal had cooperated with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during a previous interrogation in April 2023 and argued against the premise of arrest due to non-cooperation, PTI reported. He also questioned the necessity of arrest during the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.
In its response earlier, the Enforcement Directorate claimed that Kejriwal is the kingpin and key conspirator of the alleged excise policy scam and argued that the arrest of a person for an offence based on material can never violate the concept of free and fair elections, PTI reported.