On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against a high court ruling upholding his arrest in a money-laundering case involving the alleged excise policy scam is set to be heard by the Supreme Court.
Kejriwal’s plea challenging the April 9 ruling of the Delhi High Court is scheduled to be heard by a panel of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta on April 15, as per the cause list posted on the website of the apex court.
The high court affirmed the chief minister’s arrest in the money-laundering case, which caused a severe damage to his reputation. The ED was left with “little option” after the minister ignored numerous summonses and declined to cooperate with the investigation.
The head of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has had his petition against his arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the federal agency’s custody denied by the high court.
The issue concerns instances of corruption and money laundering during the development and implementation of the excise policy for 2021–2022 that was subsequently scrapped by the Delhi administration.
On March 21, just hours after the Supreme Court denied Kejriwal’s request for immunity from the federal anti-money laundering agency’s coercive measures, the ED arrested him.
He is being held in Tihar Jail under judicial custody till April 15.
