Kejriwal moves SC against his arrest

DELHI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal moved to the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order rejecting his plea challenging his arrest in Delhi's excise policy irregularities case.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate about the excise policy case.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court rejected Kejriwal's petition contesting his arrest by the ED related to the excise policy case. The court stated that Kejriwal's arrest did not violate the law and cannot be deemed “illegal,"  including the remand.

Meanwhile, ANI reported that Advocate Rishikesh Kumar, counsel for Delhi CM said that the order is amenable for a challenge in the Supreme Court and they are within their rights to challenge it.

As reported by ANI, Kumar, said, “We have challenged the illegal arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. The High Court in its finding has said that the remand order is legal and secondly, they said that they had the ground to arrest. This was the findings of the High Court in today's decision. Because the order is amenable to a challenge in the Supreme Court we are waiting for the order to come. Once the detailed order is uploaded, we will challenge it before the Supreme Court as early as possible."

Meanwhile, the bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma said, the ED had enough material, which led them to arrest Kejriwal. The non-joining of the investigation by Kejriwal and, the delay caused by him were also impacting those in judicial custody.

"The court further stated that this court thinks that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand have to be examined as per law and not as per the timing of elections. Kejriwal's challenge to the timing of arrest before General elections in the absence of any mala fide on the part of ED is not sustainable," the court said.

Evidence gathered by the ED indicates that Arvind Kejriwal participated in a conspiracy and actively engaged in utilizing and concealing proceeds of crime. The ED investigation also suggests his involvement both personally and in his capacity as the convenor of the AAP.

"The court further stated that this court thinks that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand have to be examined as per law and not as per the timing of elections. Kejriwal's challenge to the timing of arrest before General elections in the absence of any mala fide on the part of ED is not sustainable," the court said.