Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court against the High Court’s dismissal of the plea challenging his arrest and the Enforcement Directorate remand in the excise policy case on Wednesday.
The case was brought up before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud.
Mentioning the plea before the top court, senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “This is an urgent mentioning regarding Delhi chief minister. The arrest is based on an unrelied document and suppressed from us.”
In response, CJI Chandrachud said, “Please send an email.”
Rejecting his plea, the HC bench headed by Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma on Tuesday said that Kejriwal collected kickbacks as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor.
In a major setback to his case, the court also said noted that materials collected by the federal agency revealed that Kejriwal conspired with others in the liquor policy scam. “The ED case also reveals that he was involved in his personal capacity as well as the convenor of AAP,” the court order read.
There cannot be any specific privilege for any one including the chief minister, the high court observed.
It also said, “This court is of the opinion that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand has to be examined as per law and not as per timing of elections.”
The HC noted that Kejriwal’s questioning over the timing of the arrest before General elections is absence of any mala fide on part of ED is “not sustainable”.
It said that casting aspersions on process of pardon and approver is like questioning the credibility of the judge. “We hold that judges are bound by law not politics. Judgements are given on legal principles not political considerations,” the HC remarked.
Confirming the Delhi chief minister’s “vicarious liability”, the court said that the ED had enough material which led them to arrest Kejriwal.
It also noted that the case does not exist between the Central government and Kejriwal but between the ED and Kejriwal. “The Court must remain vigilant that it is not influenced by any extraneous factors,” it said.
Last week — when the HC had reserved its order on the petition — the federal agency had opposed the AAP chief’s plea saying that he cannot claim “immunity” from arrest on the grounds of elections because the law is applicable to both him and an “aam aadmi” (common man) equally.
The anti-corruption agency arrested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on March 21. The AAP chief is under judicial custody in Tihar Jail till April 15.
He faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of the excise policy favouring specific individuals. Kejriwal is also accused of collecting kickbacks from liquor business owners in exchange for favours, the ED had said.
