Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has to stay in jail
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has to stay in jail as the Supreme Court (SC) has refused an early hearing for his petition against his arrest on liquor policy scam. SC has asked Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file a reply against the Kejriwal’s petition until 27 March. SC will however hear the petition of Delhi’s CM next week on 29th April. The judicial custody of Delhi CM has been extended by Delhi Rouse Avenue Court till April 23.
Delhi High Court rejected the same petition last week by saying that enough material has been submitted by ED to back the claim that the Aam Aadmi Party leader was allegedly involved in the scam and demanded a 100 crore bribe.
Last week Mr. Kejriwal argued in the court by saying his arrest was an “unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy” based on “free and fair elections” and “federalism”. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) has rejected all the allegations against their leader calling it “political vendetta” to ruin the image of the party before the election. It is to be noted that this arrest has impacted horribly to the AAP’s election campaign.
According to the court, “Political considerations can’t be brought before a court of law… the matter before this court is not a conflict between the central government and Arvind Kejriwal. It is a case between Arvind Kejriwal and the ED.”
Manish Sisodia ex-deputy of the CM and Sanjay Singh Rajya Sabha MP were arrested last year in February and October, respectively with reference to the same liquor policy scam. However, Sanjay Singh was granted bail earlier this month by Supreme Court. It is to be noted that Sanjay Singh was arested for six months without a trial.
The apex court wants to know why the ED ( the arresting agency) have failed to retrieve the bribe money. the court commented “Nothing has been recovered… there is no trace (of money allegedly received by the AAP as bribes for allotting liquor permits to the ‘South Group’).”
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