Arvind Kejriwal Returns to Supreme Court After 18-Day Absence Following High Court Setback

Arvind Kejriwal Returns to Supreme Court After 18-Day Absence: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will appeal to the Supreme Court today, after his petition challenging his arrest in the liquor policy case was dismissed by the Delhi High Court. DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India, will hear the matter around 10.30 am and seek an urgent hearing.

After Mr Kejriwal skipped multiple summonses in the money laundering case, the central agency had "little option" after dismissing his challenge to his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21.

AAP leader Kejriwal is also accused of active involvement in concealing and using alleged proceeds of crime, according to the ED.

For a probe agency to question a common man and a chief minister, there is no separate protocol.

This Court holds that two different categories of laws cannot be created by this Court, one for common citizens, and one for investigators who grant special privileges.

As Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said in her statement, a Chief Minister or any other person in power only has access to that public office due to the mandate of the public, not on the basis of being in that public office.

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During searches for the Delhi liquor policy case, ED and CBI did not find even a rupee, AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

In spite of the talk of crores, the ED and CBI haven't found even a single rupee of illegal money. Witnesses have been pressured by the ED to change their statements. "This is not a money laundering issue, but rather a political conspiracy," he said.

In addition, Mr Bharadwaj said the high court had denied relief to AAP MP Sanjay Singh, but the Supreme Court granted him bail. "We hope Arvind Kejriwal, too, will find justice in the Supreme Court," he said.

Earlier, Mr Kejriwal had approached the Supreme Court a day after he was arrested, but later withdrew his petition to raise the matter in the trial court. On the same day, a Supreme Court bench denied relief to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, also a defendant in the liquor policy case.

According to the top court, it cannot bypass protocol and asks Ms Kavitha to approach the trial court.

A court setback and 18 days later, Mr Kejriwal is back before the Supreme Court.

As a result of a recommendation from Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, the CBI began an investigation into the allegations of irregularities in the Delhi government's liquor policy, introduced in 2021 and withdrawn the next year.

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