New Delhi, 29 April (HS). The Supreme Court will continue hearing on April 30 on the petition challenging the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. During the hearing today, lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said that his arrest has been made in violation of the law.
During the hearing, Justice Khanna asked Abhishek Manu Singhvi that you are against arrest and remand but why did you not file a bail petition. Then Singhvi said that Kejriwal’s arrest itself was illegal, hence he has challenged it. He said that the ED did not have sufficient reasons for the arrest of Kejriwal under Section 19 on March 21. Kejriwal has nothing to do with the documents that ED is talking about as evidence.
Singhvi said that when the ED filed the ECIR, Kejriwal was not arrested for 18 months. When the court asked whether his name is in the CBI case, Singhvi said that his name is not there in that also. He told the court that the case started one and a half years before Kejriwal’s arrest. During that time three charge sheets were filed. CBI also filed a charge sheet in this case but Kejriwal’s name is not there in it either.
He told the court that CBI and ED presented 10 documents in the court till December 2023 but Kejriwal’s name was not in even one of them. In this case, statements of Raghav Magunta, Buchi Babu, Boinpalli, Sarath Chandra Reddy were recorded but in none of them was there any mention of Kejriwal’s involvement in the crime. Singhvi said that the ED has arrested Kejriwal after the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct after not arresting him for a long time. The statements on the basis of which his arrest was made are seven to eight months old. Then the court asked whether any charge sheet has been filed against him, Singhvi said no.
Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked why ED sent notice to Kejriwal but he did not appear. Singhvi said in his reply that whenever CBI called, he went and Kejriwal also replied in detail to every notice of ED, but today ED cannot arrest him by saying that you did not come. He said that it is my right not to go before the ED. A separate case is being prosecuted on this matter. This cannot be a ground or reason for arrest.
He said that ED cannot arrest just on the grounds of not cooperating in the investigation. The Supreme Court is going to hear this matter on April 29. Kejriwal has said that the statements and evidence on the basis of which his arrest has been made were taken between December 7, 2022 and July 27, 2023. Since then ED does not have any evidence against Kejriwal. In such a situation, it is beyond understanding what was the need for arrest on March 21 on the basis of those old facts. Before the arrest, no statement of Kejriwal was recorded regarding clarification on these old evidences.
On April 9, a bench headed by Justice Swarnakanta Sharma of Delhi High Court had rejected Arvind Kejriwal’s petition. Kejriwal has challenged the decision of Delhi High Court in the Supreme Court.
