Delhi excise policy: No relief for Arvind Kejriwal, Supreme Court issues notice to ED

The Supreme Court on Monday, April 15, sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate on a plea by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped from Delhi excise policy case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the ED on Kejriwal's plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that had upheld his arrest in the case.

The bench asked the ED to file a reply to the plea by April 24, and said the matter would be heard in the week commencing April 29.

The high court had on April 9 upheld his arrest in the money-laundering case, saying the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

The high court had dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's petition challenging his arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the federal agency's custody.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.