The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a plea filed by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest in the Delhi Excise Policy case on Monday. The case, to be heard by a bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, coincides with the end of Kejriwal's judicial custody.
Earlier last month, the Enforcement Directorate had arrested Kejriwal in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam. The central probing agency has said that it was left with "little option" after the Delhi CM continued to skip repeated summonses and refused to cooperate with the investigation.
The ED has claimed that Kejriwal was involved in the whole conspiracy. The probing agency has also said that the AAP supremo actively participated in the use and concealment of the proceeds of crime to reject his petition against his arrest. Arvind Kejriwal will be in Tihar jail till April 15.
A Cursory Glance At The Delhi Excise Policy Case And Its Aftermath
In November 2021, the Delhi government introduced a new excise policy that aimed to restructure the distribution and sales patter of alcohol in the national capital.
Soon after its launch, in July 2022, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena suggested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the said policy. Days later, both, CBI and ED filed cases in connection with the alleged irregularities.
A month later, the Delhi government scrapped the policy. Notably, Manish Sisodia was the Excise Minister at that time.
In February 2023, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI, followed by ED in March in that year. ED, it its chargesheet, said that Sisodia was a "key conspirator" in the case.
Following Sisodia's arrest, AAP leader Sanjay Singh was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate. After his arrest, the probing agency sent its first summons to Kejriwal in the money laundering case for an appearance on November 2.