Kejriwal key conspirator' in liquor case, alleges ED

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, once idolised as an anti-corruption crusader, was on Friday dubbed a “key conspirator” in the liquor scam case by the Enforcement Directorate and was remanded to the custody of the Central probe agency till March 28 by a trial court.

Raising slogans “Arvind tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain” and “tyranny won't last”, hundreds of AAP supporters hit the streets to protest against the BJP over Kejriwal's arrest, with Delhi ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and others being detained.

Delhi minister Gopal Rai said a joint movement against the AAP national convener's arrest will be announced soon after discussions among the I.N.D.I.A. bloc constituents. He said the AAP will not celebrate Holi this year and will gherao the Prime Minister's residence on March 26 to register its protest against the Delhi Chief Minister's arrest.

While being taken to the trial court, Kejriwal, in his first reaction after his arrest, said, “My life is dedicated to the service of the nation, whether I am inside or outside (jail).”

The Delhi Chief Minister was produced before special judge Kaveri Baweja at the Rouse Avenue court at about 2 pm, shortly after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea against his arrest by the ED. The ED moved a 28-page remand application seeking his 10-day custody. It was at 8.40 pm, the judge remanded him to ED custody and said he will be produced before the court on March 28 at 2 pm.

During the AAP national convener's remand hearing, the ED told the court that he had received several crores of rupees as kickbacks from the "South group" for formulating and implementing the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

Additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju, who appeared for the ED, told the court that the Delhi CM had demanded '100 crore from some accused from the South group for contesting elections. The law officer said the money trail showed that '45 crore “kickback” used in the campaign for the Goa Assembly elections came from four hawala routes. He said the statements of the accused and witnesses have been corroborated by call detail records.

The ED, for the first time in the about two-year-old probe, said the AAP was the “major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the Delhi liquor scam.”

The agency informed the court: “Taking advantage of the fact that he was also the CM of Delhi, he used the said post to facilitate the offence of money laundering by the ‘company’ i.e. the AAP and therefore, irrespective of his role and liability for the direct commission of the said offence, he is also vicariously liable for the offence committed by the AAP, being the national convenor of the said party and because of his role and active involvement in the day-to-day affairs and the conduct for the business of the AAP."

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who was representing Kejriwal, said this is the first time in the history of India that a sitting chief minister has been arrested. The power of arrest is not equal to the need of arrest and there was no necessity of arresting this man, he said.

Singhvi said: “Please don't look at remand as a routine exercise... It requires the application of a significant judicial mind... Larger issues of democracy involved.”

Lawyer Vikram Chaudhari, who was also representing the Delhi CM, told the court that the “ED has become judge, jury and executioner”.

Before being produced in the trial court, Kejriwal withdrew his plea from the apex court after it refused to grant bail to BRS leader K. Kavitha, who has also been arrested by the ED in the excise policy scam case.

The ED has claimed that Kavitha, a BRS MLC and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, was a key member of the south cartel. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, M.M. Sundresh and Bela M. Trivedi asked Kavitha to approach the trial court, saying it is a practice that this court is following and cannot bypass the protocol.

Outside the AAP headquarters on Rouse Avenue Road in Central Delhi, there was a sea of khaki and blue as multiple layers of barricades and a large number of security personnel were deployed to thwart party leaders and workers from marching towards the BJP headquarters.

Several protesters were bungled into buses as they gathered at the ITO intersection at about 10.30 am to proceed towards the BJP office on the DDU Marg. Paramilitary personnel in anti-riot gear were also deployed to maintain law and order.

Many AAP workers lay down on the road to resist the police's attempts to detain them. Women police personnel were seen dragging female protesters, many of whom were demonstrating while carrying pictures of Kejriwal.

According to the police, about 100 protesters were detained and taken to various police stations located far away from Central Delhi. The AAP said that an “undeclared emergency like situation has arrived in the country and alleged that the BJP is finishing the Opposition parties by sending their leaders to jail or making them join it by threatening them. The party claimed that Mr Kejriwal’s arrest will prove to be the biggest political mistake of the BJP.

As Atishi, Bharadwaj and others tried to proceed towards the BJP headquarters at about 11 am, they were taken away in police buses. Police officers were seen asking protesters to disperse as prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were in force in the area.

There was jostling between the AAP workers and the police as they tried to detain them. Atishi was seen resisting female police personnel who were trying to stop her from protesting. Party workers sat down on the road and raised slogans even as police and paramilitary personnel tried to pick them up and detain them.

Hours after his detention, Bharadwaj released a video on X from the Alipur police station where he, along with his party's workers, were seen singing “Mera rang de basanti chola”.

While being detained by the police, Bharadwaj alleged that Kejriwal's family members have been put under house arrest and no one is being allowed to meet them.

Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal said his arrest was a betrayal with the people of Delhi and lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a post in Hindi on X, she said, “Modi-ji got your thrice-elected chief minister arrested due to his arrogance of power and is trying to crush everyone. This is a betrayal with the people of Delhi. Your chief minister has always stood with you. Whether inside (jail) or outside, his life is dedicated to the country. The public is supreme and knows everything. Jai Hind.”

The AAP leaders and MLAs also started a hashtag campaign “IstandWithKejriwal” and “IndiaWithKejriwal” on social media platform X to garner support for Kejriwal. The AAP's allies in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc also extended support to the party's national convener and condemned his arrest.