New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has denied Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for an immediate hearing on his petition challenging both his arrest and a lower court’s decision to grant the Enforcement Directorate custody over him for seven days, media reports said.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader was arrested on Thursday in connection with the liquor policy case, and the following day, the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi extended his custody to the ED until March 28.
Kejriwal filed the petition against his arrest on Saturday, seeking an urgent hearing by Sunday.
However, the Delhi High Court has announced that the matter will be scheduled for reopening on Wednesday, which is the first working day after the Holi holidays, reported NDTV.
This information was confirmed by the high court’s registry, it added.
Notably, Arvind Kejriwal, is the first sitting CM arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi excise policy case. The ED arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam on Thursday evening.
Late court has granted the ED custody of Kejriwal until March 28. The decision was made following a request from the ED for a 10-day remand.
Kejriwal was presented before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, where he was represented by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Vikram Chaudhari, and Ramesh Gupta, as well as advocates Rajat Bharadwaj, Mudit Jain, and Mohd Irshad. The ED was represented by ASG SV Raju and Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain.
During the hearing, ASG SV Raju alleged that Kejriwal was directly involved in formulating Delhi government’s liquor policy, which facilitated bribery. He claimed that Kejriwal was the “kingpin” of the scam, using the money for AAP’s legislative assembly elections in Goa in 2022.
