Arvind Kejriwal Faces Arrest: ED Team Arrives at Residence, Court to Hear Stay Plea Today
Delhi Police Case: ED Team Arrives at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Residence
In the ongoing Delhi police case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not receive any relief after being caught by the High Court. On Thursday evening at 7:00 PM, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team arrived at his residence to serve him a 10th summons.
During this time, heavy security arrangements were made around the Chief Minister’s residence. According to sources from the ED, he can be questioned. There is also news of a house search operation. Some media reports suggest that the ED team has arrived to serve Kejriwal with the 10th summons.
Earlier at 2:30 PM, the Delhi High Court had denied relief to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case. On Thursday, March 21st, the High Court had dismissed his plea for relief from arrest. The Enforcement Directorate had sent Kejriwal 9 summons, but he had not appeared.
AAP alleges that ED’s summons are politically motivated
When Kejriwal did not appear before the Delhi Jal Board case on March 18, AAP stated that the summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were arbitrary. AAP argued that when the Chief Minister has been granted bail by the court, then why does he repeatedly receive summons? AAP’s allegation is that the BJP is using the ED to target Kejriwal.
Courtroom Live:
The court asked ASG SV Raju (representing the ED), “Who stopped you from arresting him? Why are you issuing back-to-back summons?”
Raju responded to the court, saying, “We have never said that we want to arrest him. We have the power to investigate him. We asked him to appear for questioning. We may or may not arrest him.”
Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Kejriwal’s lawyer) stated, “It has never been said in the summons that he (the one who received the summons) is a suspicious witness or accused. I fear that my client’s arrest may be politically motivated.”
Kejriwal’s lawyer further said, “If security is provided, the CM will appear.”
Senior counsels Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhri had filed Kejriwal’s plea in court on March 20. They argued, “ED has arrested AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. The investigative agency can also arrest Kejriwal.”
The lawyers said, “Kejriwal is not evading. He will appear if provided security. Even though ED has not stated him as an accused, they are summoning him as a suspicious or possibly a witness. Upon this, the court remarked that they will be present; then it will be known whether they are called as a witness or as an accused.”
In the Jal Board case, as well as in the case related to the alleged tender scam, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In the tender scam case related to the Jal Board, it was the first summons received by the Chief Minister. In this case, he was summoned for questioning on March 18, but he did not appear. In this manner, the ED has issued a total of 10 summons to Kejriwal so far.
AAP has alleged that the summons issued by the ED are arbitrary. When Kejriwal did not appear on March 18 in the Jal Board case, AAP stated that the ED’s summons are arbitrary. AAP questioned why summons are repeatedly issued after the Chief Minister has been granted bail by the court. AAP’s accusation is that the BJP is using the ED to target Kejriwal.
On March 16, the Delhi High Court granted Chief Minister Kejriwal bail on a bond of Rs. 15,000 in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons case. The court has also granted him relief from appearing in this case. Instead of appearing when summoned, Kejriwal had filed two complaints in court against the ED.
Kejriwal’s lawyers had appealed to the court that he needs documents from the ED based on which he can answer their questions. The court has ordered the ED to provide the documents. The hearing of this case is scheduled for April 1.
In the Delhi leakage case, BRS leader Kavitha was arrested: ED conducted operations after 8-hour raid in Hyderabad.
In the Delhi liquor haul case, Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday (March 15) arrested Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana CM KCR and MLA. Kavitha (46) was arrested in Hyderabad. Prior to this, on Friday morning at 11 o’clock, ED had raided Kavitha’s house in Hyderabad. After nearly 8 hours of search and operation, she was taken into custody around 7 in the evening. She was later arrested.
