Arvind Kejriwal taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday night for the alleged liquor policy fraud. Hours after an ED team questioned him at his home in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, he was taken into custody.
Kejriwal has disregarded nine ED summonses related to the purported liquor policy scandal. He disregarded a summons that the agency sent him on Monday in connection with a money-laundering investigation involving purported anomalies in the Delhi Jal Board. For Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Vikram Chaudhari, and Ramesh Gupta made an appearance, so did advocates Rajat Bharadwaj, Mudit Jain, and Mohd Irshad.
In an excise policy case, a Delhi court remands Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to the custody of the ED till March 28. Madan Lal, Arvind Kejriwal's attorney, states that the ED requested a 10-day remand. They said that a custodial inquiry is required in order to follow the money trail. The judge granted a 6-day prison detention after taking all factors into account. On March 28, he will be introduced here once more. The money utilized for the Goa polls, according to ED, was obtained illegally. They claimed to have witness testimonies that support this claim."
The ED attorney asserted that AAP media coordinator Vijay Nair who was employed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Nair, who the agency said to lived close to Kejriwal's house, served as a go-between for the AAP and the South group. The ED lawyer went on to say that in addition to Rs 100 crore, gains earned by bribe providers also constituted proceeds of crime. According to the lawyer, the agency tracked down Hawala trails worth Rs 45 crore that were utilized in the Goa election.
A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's removal from office has been filed before the Delhi High Court amidst the ongoing legal turmoil surrounding him. Delhi resident Surjit Singh Yadav, a self-described farmer and social worker, filed the plea, arguing that Arvind Kejriwal is unsuitable to hold public office because of his detention by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to a liquor policy issue.
The petitioner argued that Arvind Kejriwal's current imprisonment prevents him from carrying out the obligations of his job as Chief Minister, citing Articles 163 and 164 of the Constitution. The argument goes on to discuss how realistic it would be for an incarcerated Chief Minister to run government operations from behind bars, arguing that Arvind Kejriwal's oath of office would be broken by the scrutiny prison officials place on any documents that come to him.
In order to force Arvind Kejriwal to defend his right to serve as Chief Minister and maybe remove him from office, the petitioner asked the court to issue a writ of Quo Warranto.
In relation to the Delhi liquor policy fraud, Kejriwal is the third top politician from the party to be arrested and the first Chief Minister currently in office.
