Money laundering case: Arvind Kejriwal move SC challenging Delhi HC order

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging a high court order upholding his arrest in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam.

Kejriwal's counsel Vivek Jain told PTI that they have filed the petition in the apex court challenging the high court's order.

In a blow to Kejriwal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Delhi High Court had on Tuesday upheld his arrest in the money laundering case, saying the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

Besides his arrest, Kejriwal, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail, had also challenged his subsequent remand in Enforcement Directorate's custody, which the court said was not illegal.

During previous hearings, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the Enforcement Directorate was in possession of "enough material" which led to Kejriwal's arrest, and the trial court remanded him in the custody of the agency by a well-reasoned order. The court clarified that it was not dealing with Kejriwal's bail plea but his writ petition challenging the arrest on certain grounds. It emphasised that law applied equally to all and courts were concerned with constitutional morality and not political morality, apparently referring to Kejriwal and his AAP claiming that he was arrested to put his party's Lok Sabha poll campain in jeopardy.

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

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. He was sent to judicial custody in the case on April 1 after he was produced in the trial court on expiry of ED custody.

The AAP national convener had questioned before the high court the "timing" of his arrest and said it was in contravention of the basic structure of the Constitution, including democracy, free and fair elections and level-playing field. The ED opposed the plea and contended that Kejriwal cannot claim "immunity" from arrest on the ground of upcoming elections as law is applied equally to him and an "aam aadmi".

Inputs from PTI