Just yesterday we wrote about the controversial issues of the PM Narendra Modi led BJP government on CAA, Electoral bonds, Congress account freezing etc, hours comes another breaking news – DELHI CM ARVIND KEJRIWAL ARRESTED, days before the LOk Sabha elections in the country.
Well, this actually did not come as a surprise as the Delhi Chief Minister was taking the Enforcement Directorate’s summons a bit lightly. As in there were 9 summons which he had ignored and continued his meeting and campaigning.
Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the summons were illegal and approached the Delhi High Court on Thursday with a fresh plea against the Enforcement Directorate (ED), seeking protection from any ‘coercive action’ by the agency in the excise policy case.
The development followed a day after Kejriwal’s lawyers told the HC that the Delhi chief minister is willing to appear before the probe agency but he wants “protection” first. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) feared that Kejriwal could be arrested if he appears before the ED. Notably, AAP leaders Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia are in judicial custody after they were arrested during questioning in the matter.
However, the Delhi High Court refused to pass orders granting interim protection from coercive action to Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy case.
“We have heard both the sides. However, at this stage, we are not inclined [to pass any order],” a division bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain said.
During the hearing, the High Court asked ASG SV Raju: “What prevented you (ED) from arresting him, why are you issuing summons back to back?” To this, Raju said: “We never said that we are going to arrest. The power is there. You come join the investigation, we may or may not arrest you.”
A political “witch-hunt”?
Political parties across the spectrum have condemned the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy, terming it “violative of the spirit of democracy”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that a ”scared dictator” wants to create a dead democracy and said the INDIA bloc will give a befitting reply to such designs.
Now the question is whether this is really a political witch-hunt or the opposition is trying to make an issue ahead of elections?
The BJP and the experts feel it was Kejriwal’s ego that to his arrest so close to elections as he felt he was “untouchable”. They felt that due to that ego he continued to ignore the ED summons.
Of course, the timing of arrest is questionable. The ED could have arrested Kejriwal anywhere between November to January as it had served several summons till then. Why did it wait till the elections were announced?
Even the HIgh Court asked them who had stopped them from arresting the Delhi CM.
While the ED may or may not have the evidence against Kejriwal, it is quite evident that there is much more to the story that is meeting the naked eye.
Agreed, there could be substantial evidence and that is the reason many of AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain are not getting bail for nearly a year now.
But in the PMLA cases are such that instead of the agency the accused has to prove he is innocent. Now how does one do that?
This is the second chief minister arersted by the ED after Hemant Soren, of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, who was accused of corruption.
With Lok Sabha elections round the corner and the PM giving a call for 400 paar. It now seems that with this current rate of arrests of the Opposition leaders, BJP and NDA may well cross the 545-mark.
What is the excise policy case?
The ED has issued nine summonses to Kejriwal since October in the ongoing investigation linked to the alleged excise policy scam. The latest summons was issued for March 21, a day after the court granted bail to the AAP chief on the two complaints filed by the ED for skipping the first six summons. The matter will next be heard on April 22.
The case pertains to the alleged corruption carried out by the AAP government via the implementation of the Delhi liquor policy 2021-22, which was later scrapped. The ED has alleged that the top AAP leaders, including Kejriwal and Sisodia and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha “conspired” to get favours in the Delhi Excise policy execution. According to ED’s charge, Kavitha is allegedly involved in paying Rs 100 crore to the AAP leaders in exchange for these favours.