ED Team Grills Kejriwal; AAP Fears Arrest, Moves SC, No Hearing Tonight
New Delhi: A 12-member Enforcement Directorate (ED) team Thursday evening arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence in North Delhi’s Civil Lines.
The ED team had reached Kejriwal's residence, shortly after the High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had earlier skipped multiple summonses of the agency in the case. It is understood that the ED officials presented summonses to the Chief Minister's staff, who were present at his residence. The ED officials then began questioning the Chief Minister and eventually arrested him after two hours.
The Delhi Chief Minister moved the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing challenging the Delhi HC order. The top court is expected to hear the matter on Friday morning. Section 144 has been imposed outside Delhi CM’s residence as AAP leaders and followers gather outside the residence to show support.
Here are the latest updates in this big story:
- 10.46 pm
"A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy. While capturing all the institutions including the media, breaking up the parties, extorting money from companies, freezing the account of the main opposition party was not enough for the 'devilish power', now the arrest of the elected Chief Ministers has also become a common thing. INDIA will give a befitting reply to this," Rahul Gandhi posts on X. - 9.30 pm
"We have moved the Supreme Court for quashing the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal by ED. We have asked for an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court tonight itself," tweets Atishi. - 9.20 pm
AAP leader Atishi says, "We have received news that ED has arrested Arvind Kejriwal... We have always said that Arvind Kejriwal will run the government from jail. He will remain the CM of Delhi. We have filed a case in the Supreme Court. Our lawyers are reaching SC. We will demand SC have an urgent hearing tonight." - 9.14 pm
After around two hours of questioning him, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by Enforcement Directorate officials in the Delhi Liquor Policy Case. - 9.02 pm
Arvind Kejriwal will not seek urgent hearing on plea for protection in SC tonight, says senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi. - 9.00 pm
Delhi AAP workers stage protest outside the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Enforcement Directorate team is present at Arvind Kejriwal's residence for questioning. - 8.47 pm
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva says, "Arvind Kejriwal has committed a scam in the liquor policy, looted the people of Delhi, done the work of looting Delhi. So if you have cheated the public, committed theft, or committed corruption, then its consequences are also yours. You have committed theft and corruption in changing the liquor policy under the pretext that you will have to answer." - 8.44 pm
AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha says, "We are waiting for the next step of the BJP government and what ED does today. People have given the mandate to Arvind Kejriwal to run the government and he will continue to do so. Even if Arvind Kejriwal will be jailed, 'Sarkar Jail Se Chalegi'." - 8.38 pm
Enforcement Directorate officials are conducting a search operation at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence: Sources - 8.30 pm
Delhi Legislative Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel says, "Even if Arvind Kejriwal is arrested, he will not resign." - 8.27 pm
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi: "The matter is going on in the court, 22 April has been decided as the next date. What was the hurry to raid, to arrest, to search?... The way police have been deployed here is condemnable... We have no contact with Arvind Kejriwal. Further intentions will soon become clear..." - 8.21 pm
Delhi Legislative Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel says, "It's known by all that Manish Sisodia had been arrested but nothing has been found. 600 more people have been arrested by now. They want to suppress the voice of Arvind Kejriwal before the election, and hence they want to arrest him." - 8.15 pm
Delhi minister Atishi on ED team arriving at Kejriwal's residence: "Within an hour of the court issuing notice, they (ED) arrived at the residence of Arvind Kejriwal. This shows that today, the ED is not an independent investigative agency. It is a political weapon of the BJP...Arvind Kejriwal is not a person, he is an idea... We cannot go inside because heavy security is deployed. We will wait here. If a popular CM is arrested this way, his supporters from all over Delhi will come here... The HC issued a notice today to the ED as to why are the summons not being quashed, and why interim relief shall not be provided to Arvind Kejriwal. Without waiting for the decision of the court, ED has arrived to arrest Arvind Kejriwal... If this is a search operation, why have they brought four buses full of police personnel? What was the need to bring two buses full of RAF personnel? What was the need to barricade the whole area?... This is a conspiracy to arrest Arvind Kejriwal..." - 8.12 pm
Rapid Action Force (RAF) deployed outside the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Security beefed up around his residence in Civil Lines with the deployment of RAF and CRPF units along with Delhi Police personnel as Enforcement Directorate officials reached there in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case. Barricades were put up on the lane leading to his official residence in Civil Lines in north Delhi and additional police personnel deployed there, officials said. - 8.09 pm
Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Supreme Court against the High Court's refusal to protect him in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. - 8.07 pm
Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that no one is allowed to enter the Chief Minister's house. "The way police are inside the house of the CM and no one is allowed to enter it seems, the Chief Minister's house has been raided. It seems, there is preparation to arrest the CM," Bharadwaj told reporters here. - 8.07 pm
AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha said it is a big conspiracy to arrest Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal just before the Lok Sabha elections. - 8.00 pm
Earlier in the day, a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain of the Delhi High Court refused to grant Kejriwal any protection from coercive action in the case. The bench listed the AAP leader's application for further consideration on April 22 when his main petition challenging the summons i is fixed for hearing, and asked the Enforcement Directorate to file its response. The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case. Kejriwal's name has been mentioned multiple times in the charge sheets filed by the ED. The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they paid kickbacks to the AAP.
