The Delhi High Court upheld Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy, following a series of events spanning several years.
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DELHI: The Delhi High Court has upheld the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. The court’s decision comes after a series of events that unfolded over the past few years, involving the formulation and implementation of the excise policy.
Let’s take a detailed look at the chronology of events-
- The timeline begins in November 2021 when the Delhi government introduced a new excise policy aimed at regulating the sale and consumption of alcohol in the city. However, this policy soon came under scrutiny, and in July 2022, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities surrounding its formulation and implementation.
- Responding to the Lieutenant Governor’s recommendations, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered cases in August 2022 to investigate the alleged irregularities. As a result, the Delhi government decided to scrap the excise policy in September 2022, amidst the growing controversy.
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- On October 30, 2023, when the ED sent the first summons to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the money laundering case. Kejriwal was required to appear before the agency on November 2. The ED followed up with two more summonses in December 2023, with the dates for questioning set for December 21 and January 3.
- The year 2023 brought additional summonses from the ED for Kejriwal. In January, two more summonses were sent, with appearance dates scheduled for January 18 and February 2. However, despite the repeated summonses, Kejriwal failed to comply, leading to further legal action against him.
- The ED lodged a complaint against Kejriwal on February 3, 2024, with a magisterial court due to his repeated non-appearance before the agency. Following this, on February 7, 2024, the magisterial court summoned Kejriwal in response to the ED’s complaint.
- In February 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued multiple summonses to Kejriwal, scheduling his appearances on February 19, February 26, and March 4. The situation intensified on March 7, 2024, when a magisterial court summoned Kejriwal again based on a new complaint by the ED, alleging that he had ignored the earlier summonses.
- Despite Kejriwal’s efforts to challenge the proceedings, the sessions court refused to stay the proceedings against him for skipping the summonses on March 15, 2024. However, on March 16, 2024, the magisterial court granted bail to Kejriwal in response to the ED’s complaints after he finally appeared before it.
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- On March 21, 2024, Kejriwal filed a petition with the Delhi High Court, contesting his arrest by the ED and the trial court’s decision to place him in the agency’s custody. However, on April 9, 2024, the High Court rejected Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest, thereby affirming the actions taken by the agency.
The dismissal of Kejriwal’s petition by the Delhi High Court signifies a major setback for the Chief Minister in the ongoing Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.
