The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his March 21 arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection to a money laundering case linked to the liquor policy case, in the week beginning on April 29. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo's plea was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on April 9.
The decision by the two-judge bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta came as it was hearing the plea today.
The court also issued a notice to the ED on the AAP chief's plea against his arrest.
"Issue notice, returnable on the week commencing 29th April, 2024," the two-judge bench added.
During the hearing, senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Kejriwal, said, "I am seeking a short date in this case, this Friday. There are selective leaks in the case."
To this, Justice Khanna replied, "Will give you a short date, but the date suggested by you is not possible."
Singhvi also said that "the petitioner (Kejriwal) was not named in the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) or chargesheet. There are 15 statements".
"The arrest was to disable me from campaigning," he said, citing Kejriwal as saying.
The 14-day judicial custody of the Chief Minister, who is currently lodged at the Tihar Jail, will also end on Monday.
Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court on April 10, a day after the Delhi High Court had dismissed his petition, saying that he had "conspired with others" in the case.
At the Supreme Court, senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the Delhi Chief Minister, said that Kejriwal's "arrest and remand were based on an unreliable document supressed from us".
The AAP national convenor's petition also states that his arrest was made "in a motivated manner" and was solely based on subsequent, contradictory and "highly belated statements of co-accused" who have now turned approvers.
It has sought his release and to declare the arrest "illegal".
While dismissing Kejriwal's plea on April 9, the Delhi High Court had also said that he was "actively involved in using the proceeds of crime", according to materials provided by the Enforcement Directorate.
The court further said that he was involved in a personal capacity in the formulation of the now-scrapped liquor policy and demanding kickbacks, and as the national convenor of AAP, he participated in activities linked to the scandal.
Also on Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also met Kejriwal in Tihar Jail.
