The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy on Wednesday. The plea is listed for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was the "kingpin" and the "key conspirator" of the "excise scam." The federal agency opposed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener's petition challenging his arrest in the money laundering case.
In its reply filed to the petition, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated that there were "reasons to believe on the basis of material in possession" that Kejriwal was "guilty of the offence of money laundering."
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Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21, has sought his release on the grounds that the arrest was illegal. He is currently in judicial custody until April 15 after his arrest last month by the ED in connection with a money-laundering case. Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar jail.
The ED Case In Which Delhi CM Has Been Arrested
Kejriwal has been arrested in connection with an ongoing liquor policy case, under which the ED has previously alleged that through the excise policy implemented by the Delhi Government in November 2021, the AAP was involved in money laundering.
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The new policy reduced the legal drinking age to 21, replaced government-owned liquor stores with private entities, and implemented separate registration criteria for different liquor brands based on pricing and sales performance outside Delhi.
Additionally, the annual liquor vending licence fee was increased significantly from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. The new policy also granted licences to 849 private vendors through competitive bidding.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleges that the excise policy was part of a conspiracy to provide a 12 per cent wholesale business profit to certain private companies and was a coordinated effort by Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Vijay Nair and others.
The policy was later scrapped after violations were reported.
