1. Supreme Court to review Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against his ED arrest today.
2. Kejriwal detained over alleged money laundering in Delhi liquor policy scam.
3. Hearing follows Kejriwal’s arrest on Thursday; legal battle intensifies.
New Delhi, March 22: The Supreme Court is set to hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today. Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday night in connection with a money-laundering probe related to the Delhi liquor policy scam case.
AAP leader and Delhi’s minister Gopal Rai claimed on Friday morning that Arvind Kejriwal’s family had been put under “house arrest”. He alleged that authorities prevented him from visiting the family shortly after the chief minister’s arrest.
“I have come here to meet his family but they have been put under house arrest. Under which law am I being stopped from meeting his family?” Rai told reporters.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj echoed similar sentiments, accusing the central government of obstructing anyone from meeting Kejriwal’s family.
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“Arrests have been made in politics in the past. However, even the minimum human values, once considered by the British, are not being followed. The central government has not allowed anyone to meet Arvind Kejriwal’s family since yesterday,” he said.
AAP leader Atishi alleged that Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest was part of the BJP’s political conspiracy.
“It is the first time that a sitting CM has been arrested by the central government. Even the Jharkhand Chief Minister resigned before his arrest. In the country’s history, it is the first time that, after the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the national convenor of a national party has been arrested. Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is the BJP’s political conspiracy,” Atishi said.
She also expressed concerns about Kejriwal’s security, considering he has Z-plus security cover.
BJP Criticizes Arvind Kejriwal, AAP
Meanwhile, the BJP criticized Kejriwal and AAP, accusing them of playing the victim card.
“AAP leaders are saying that Arvind Kejriwal is not a human, but an ideology… The ideology is that he will be corrupt and when the court takes action, he will call it an atrocity… And play the victim card… I want to ask them, is the court ending democracy?… The SC rejected Manish Sisodia’s bail. The SC said that there is a money trail of Rs. 338 crore. Sanjay Singh’s bail was rejected by the HC. If your teammates have been in jail for more than a year now, has the BJP done it or the Courts have done it?.. Your BFF Congress found you drowned in the Liquor scam,” said BJP leader Shehzad Poonwalla.
AAP Affirms Kejriwal Will Not Resign
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced that Kejriwal will not resign as the chief minister of Delhi and will continue to govern from jail. In response, union minister Anurag Thakur criticized the decision, labeling it an insult to the people of Delhi.
“They are saying that Arvind Kejriwal will run the government from jail. This is an insult to the people of Delhi, law and democracy… It is unfortunate that a political party that spoke about the corruption of the Congress, and demanded the arrest of Sonia Gandhi, has refused to appear before the ED even after 9 summons. Why did I have to remain away from the investigation… All of them are exposed in this liquor scam,” he said.
