New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday will hear a plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order, which upheld his arrest in a money-laundering case in relation to the alleged excise policy scam. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21
The cause list uploaded on the apex court indicates that the Kejriwal’s plea is listed before a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta on April 15. Kejriwal moved the top court against the High Court’s order passed on April 9.
Kejriwal's petition stressed on the timing of his arrest, which happened just few days after the announcement of general elections and the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Kejriwal's plea argued that his arrest provided the ruling party an unfair advantage in the upcoming elections, compromising the principle of free and fair elections. The plea said that petitioner’s arrest will provide the ruling party at the Centre an unjust upper hand in the upcoming elections.
Seeking apex court’s intervention in the matter, the plea argued that Kejriwal’s arrest also constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on "free and fair elections" and "federalism". The plea emphasised that both of these form significant constituents of the basic structure of the Constitution.
The plea argued that the conduct of the BJP after his arrest, demonstrates the way the machinery of law has been harnessed with the "oblique object’ of knocking out the political opposition."
The plea said that the present case is a classic case of how the ruling party led-Centre has misused the central agency and its wide powers under PMLA to crush its biggest political opponent.
Citing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the plea said when political activity is at its highest, the petitioner’s illegal arrest has caused grave prejudice to the petitioner’s political party. The High Court had upheld Kejriwal’s arrest saying the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.
The High Court has dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s petition challenging his arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the federal agency’s custody. The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped. Kejriwal is in judicial custody till April 15 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail here.
