April 15: SC will consider Kejriwal’s appeal over ED arrest

On April 15, the Supreme Court will consider Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, in his appeal against his detention by the Enforcement Directorate.

A panel consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will hear the case.

On March 21, Kejriwal was taken into custody by the central investigative agency in relation to a money laundering case involving purported anomalies in the creation and execution of the since-canceled Delhi excise policy.

 

The Delhi CM was placed in judicial prison after two rounds of ED remand; his incarceration is set to expire on April 15, the day the top court will hear his case.

Following the Delhi High Court’s denial of his appeal contesting his ED detention, Kejriwal filed a case before the Supreme Court last week.

“This court is of the opinion 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,” the High Court said in its ruling. In the absence of any dishonesty on the part of the ED, Kejriwal’s objection to the timing of the arrest before the general elections is untenable.

But the AAP declared that they “politically disagreed” with the ruling and appealed it to the highest court.

Senior attorney Abhishek Manu Singhvi brought up Kejriwal’s Supreme Court petition on Wednesday, which contested his ED arrest and subsequent detention in the excise policy issue.

Singhvi told a Supreme Court panel led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud that the arrest was based on an unrelied document and that it was withheld from them, and he was seeking an expedited listing of Kejriwal’s appeal against the Delhi High Court ruling.

Singhvi was directed to deliver an email by the CJI-led bench, which also said that it would investigate.