Kejriwal's arrest: ED had no reply to questions asked in HC, claims AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday hit out at the Enforcement Directorate, claiming the agency had no reply to the questions raised by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's lawyers in the High Court over his arrest.

The party's reaction came after Kejriwal did not get immediate relief from the Delhi High Court, which refused to interfere with his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy 'scam'.

The BJP, however, claimed that Kejriwal failed to get relief as the ED had "concrete" evidence against him and said that the last chapter of Kejriwal's "politics of deception" will start in the coming days.

At a press conference, Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi said, "When Kejriwal's lawyers said before the court that the arrest by ED was illegal and unconstitutional and there was no evidence against him, the agency had no answer to this.

"The ED which has been investigating the case for the last two years and has conducted raids at thousands of places had no answer to the questions," she alleged.

On Wednesday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice on the AAP leader's petition challenging his arrest and the subsequent remand in the ED's custody, and asked the agency to file its response, including on interim relief, before April 2.

The judge, in the order, stated that the matter would be taken up for final disposal on April 3 and no adjournment shall be granted.

Atishi charged, "Now, the ED will go back, cook up stories, create pressure on witnesses to give statement against Kejriwal."

The court took cognisance of what impact the arrest was having on the democratic process, she claimed.

"We are happy that Delhi HC raised questions over the arrest of Kejriwal. We also welcome the court's decision to give ED just one week time to file its reply," she said.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the actions by the ED and the courts are based on strong evidence.

"The Aam Aadmi Party has been saying there is no proof but the evidence is so grave that no court wants to intervene. The ED's actions are justified," he said.

The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21 hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the anti-money laundering probe agency.

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