Arvind Kejriwal News Highlights: Delhi CM welcomed by parents at home

Arvind Kejriwal LIVE Updates: Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in the money laundering case associated with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam

AAP on Friday accused the ED of saying "contradictory things" in opposing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea for interim bail in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case.

The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce shortly its verdict on Kejriwal's plea for interim bail in the alleged excise policy scam case.

"The ED (Enforcement Directorate) is saying contradictory things," senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

He pointed out that Delhi High Court recently stayed the three-year sentence of Dilip Ray in a coal scam case, saying it would lead to an "irreparable loss" if he was not able to contest the elections. Now, he is contesting the elections as a BJP candidate, Bharadwaj said

The bench has divided the hearing on Kejriwal's petition against his arrest into two parts. While his main petition challenges his arrest by the central probe agency and seeks it to be declared as "illegal", the second aspect pertains to the grant of interim bail keeping in mind the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

SC hearing on interim bail for Kejriwal to begin at 2

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal slammed the Enforcement Directorate for playing politics over the issue of interim bail of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

He also advised them to know how Hardik Patel, who later joined the BJP, contested the election after being convicted.

"Yesterday, ED presented its side before the Supreme Court and said that Arvind Kejriwal should not be granted interim bail because the right to campaign is a legal right, not a Constitutional right...It is correct. But the law also provides that if someone has been awarded punishment and court says that they are staying the punishment, he can take part in campaigning...,' Sibal told ANI.

Sibal added: "Ask them how Hardik Patel contested the election. Hardik Patel was convicted, High Court stayed it. Hardik approached the Supreme Court and the Court stayed it. Hardik contested the election and joined the BJP. Someone, against whom you have evidence and punishment, has the right (to campaign) if the Court stays it. But someone who is just an accused can't be given the stay...What kind of politics is ED doing?..."

The Delhi high court on Friday sought Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) response in Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s plea seeking bail in the money laundering case in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22.

A bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice in Kavitha’s plea and scheduled the matter for May 24.

Arrested by the ED on March 15, Kavitha’s plea before the high court painted a picture that the members of the ruling party in the Centre have orchestrated a conspiracy against her with the active connivance of the ED, despite there being no substance in the allegation of her involvement in the excise policy scam. The plea highlighted that the investigation that is being conducted by the ED is compromised and is not being carried out to find the untainted truth but to further political agenda.

On reacting to ED opposing interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader & Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "Government of India is adopting double standards. You are stopping interim bail for Arvind Kejriwal but stayed the conviction of former union minister Dilip Ray in a coal scam case. It can be said that ED is batting for BJP."

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted more time to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file their replies to the bail pleas filed by former Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, challenging the trial court order refusing him bail in the excise policy case.

The bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma fixed May 13 for a detailed hearing in the matter while allowing investigation agencies more time to file responses in the matter.

Appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, Advocate Zoheb Hossain sought more time to file a reply in the matter and informed the court that the investigation officer was in the middle of filing another supplementary prosecution complaint in the case.

The Supreme Court will pass an order today on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail in the money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

After the Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe against Delhi Chief Minister for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned terrorist organization "Sikhs for Justice", Bathinda Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Gurmeet Singh Khuddian said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Directorate of Enforcement has kept Arvind Kejriwal unnecessarily entangled to "somehow win the Lok Sabha elections."

"Arvind Kejriwal has been unnecessarily kept entangled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ED to somehow win the Lok Sabha elections. However, it may be a misconception, similar to the way it happened to Indira Gandhi. On June 4 this misconception of the Narendra Modi government will also go away," Khuddian said speaking at a press conference on Tuesday.

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his party colleague Manish Sisodia and BRS leader K Kavitha in cases related to the alleged excise scam.

Special judge for CBI and ED matters Kaveri Baweja extended Kejriwal's custody till May 20 in the money laundering case linked to the alleged scam being probed by the ED, after he was produced before the court through a video-conference on the expiry of his remand granted earlier.

The judge also extended the judicial custody of Sisodia till May 15 in a related corruption case being probed by the CBI.

The judge fixed May 15 for further arguments on framing of charges in the corruption case against Sisodia.

After the Supreme Court reserved the order on Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea, BJP MP and leader Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said that the Delhi Chief Minister can temper with the evidence after coming out of jail.

"I believe Arvind Kejriwal, who has this kind of corruption case against him when he comes out of jail can tamper with the evidence in the case. But whatever will be the order of the court, we will follow it. We do not want any innocent but only the accused to be punished. We have faith in justice," the BJP leader said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday did not pass any order on interim bail for Kejriwal in the Delhi Excise Policy case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta which during the hearing said that it will pass an order on interim bail rose without passing any order.

ED is set to file a combined chargesheet against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party and K Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, before May 15 when Kavitha completes two months in custody in the excise scam case.

It is mandatory to file a chargesheet within two months of arrest. In the case of Kejriwal, he completes two months in judicial custody on May 21 and his plea for interim bail is to be decided by SC on Friday.

Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Supreme Court Advocate Kapil Sibal says, "Yesterday, ED presented its side before the Supreme Court and said that Arvind Kejriwal should not be granted interim bail because the right to campaign is a legal right, not a Constitutional right...It is correct. But the law also provides that if someone has been awarded punishment and court says that they are staying the punishment, he can take part in campaigning...Ask them how Hardik Patel contested the election. Hardik Patel was convicted, High Court had stayed it. Hardik approached the Supreme Court and the Court stayed it. Hardik contested the election and joined the BJP. Someone, against whom you have evidence and punishment, has the right (to campaign) if Court stays it. But someone who is just an accused can't be given the stay...What kind of politics is ED doing?..."

The Supreme Court on Friday is likely to pass on order on the petition seeking interim bail for Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor excise policy case. The top court, during the hearing on the petition on Tuesday, said it did not want Kejriwal to discharge his official duties if he was released on interim bail in view of the election. The court later reserved the order.

On April 9, the High Court had dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.The High Court had said that Kejriwal's absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation. 

The AAP shared that the ED has categorically stated in their reply filed in these proceedings, that Arvind Kejriwal is not named as an accused in the ECIR; nor is he named as an accused in the scheduled offence registered by the CBI, which is the foundation of the proceedings in the ECIR.

"The power to arrest in this case is a glaring abuse of the due process of law as well as the procedure established. The ED's approach completely negates the basic tenets and foundation principles of criminal jurisprudence, that is, fair investigation, fair trial and rule of law," the party said.

Kejriwal, while filing an appeal in the apex court, contended that his arrest after the announcement of the General Elections is "motivated by extraneous considerations."

On April 9, the High Court had dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.The High Court had said that Kejriwal's absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the Director General (Prisons), to provide arrangements for efficient governance of Delhi by allowing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to interact with assembly members and cabinet ministers via video conferencing.

The plea also sought direction from the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to restrain media from airing alleged misleading, sensational headings related to imposing presidential rule in Delhi.

Delhi HC's Bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan while dismissing the plea also imposed costs of Rupees of one lakh on the petitioner and said "Do you think courts impose censorship under article 226? Are you asking for a gag order against the press? What do we do? Do we impose an emergency? Censorship? Martial law? How do we gag the press and political rivals?

Questioning the ED's objection to the interim bail of CM Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP said that it is well known that even after two years of investigation by the ED in the alleged liquor scam, not a single rupee or piece of evidence has been "recovered" incriminating anybody in Aam Aadmi Party.

Further, the grounds for the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal are based on statements made by other implicated persons, viz., Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Sarath Reddy, Satya Vijay Naik, and a close aide of an ex-BJP CM.

The AAP mentioned that the ED illegally 'picked up' a sitting Chief Minister and the National Convenor of a national party on March 21, that is, 5 days after the General Elections were announced and the Model Code of Conduct was put in place.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, also representing ED, told the bench at an earlier hearing that there can't be any deviation only because Kejriwal is Chief Minister and asked if the Supreme Court is carving out exceptions for politicians?

"How can a Chief Minister be treated differently from an aam aadmi? There can't be any deviation only because he is a chief minister. Would campaigning for elections be more important?" he had told the bench.

To this, the bench said that elections are held once every five years.

Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi Convenor Gopal Rai on Thursday alleged that by putting Arvind Kejriwal in jail in a "fake case," BJP has ensured its defeat in the national capital.

The party on Thursday held a Sankalp Sabha under the "Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se" campaign in Malviya Nagar Assembly of the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.

Rai said the results of the elections will come on June 4 and on that day, good days will return for the people of the country and Modi will be thrown out of power.

The BJP won previous two Lok Sabha elections because the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party contested separately, which divided votes, he said.

The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce its verdict on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail today. Earlier this week, a bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, told the Enforcement Directorate's counsel, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, that it may pass the order on interim relief to the Aam Aadmi Party chief on Friday. Read more

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will launch the next phase of its "Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se" Lok Sabha poll campaign on May 13 with multiple events, such as "Mahila Samvad" and "Trade Town Hall", in the four Delhi constituencies from where it has fielded candidates, party leader Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference here, Rai, who is also the AAP's Delhi state convenor, said the party has so far organised a door-to-door campaign, multiple "Sankalp Sabha" events and roadshows featuring jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal.

"Under the campaign, we went from door to door against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. Now, we will enter the next phase of the campaign that will be run from May 13 to May 23," he said.

The AAP will go among the public in the fourth phase of the campaign, targeting four different sections of the society, Rai added.

The AAP on Thursday targeted the BJP saying its only job is to defame Arvind Kejriwal and alleged that it is behind the Enforcement Directorate's charge sheet which is likely to be filed soon in a city court.

The ED is expected to soon file a fresh charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case and it may name Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BRS leader K Kavitha and some others as accused, the official sources said.

The Aam Aadmi Party sources alleged that the ED charge sheet is in fact the BJP's charge sheet. The BJP's only work remains to defame Kejriwal, they said.

Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the AAP, was arrested on March 21 by the ED and is currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the money laundering case.