Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Arrested by ED Over Liquor Policy Case

On Thursday night, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to excise policy. The arrest came after the Delhi High Court denied protection to the AAP national convenor from any coercive action by the agency. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reacted angrily to the arrest, stating that Kejriwal will continue as the chief minister of Delhi and run the government from jail if necessary.

The BJP demanded that Kejriwal step down as chief minister on moral grounds. Following the high court order, a 10-member ED team led by an additional director arrived at Kejriwal's official residence in Civil Lines, Delhi, and conducted searches. The ED questioned Kejriwal briefly before arresting him, and some seizures were made.

The ED brought Kejriwal to its office in central Delhi around 11.25 pm in an SUV. This is the 16th arrest in the case by the ED. The agency will produce the chief minister before a court on Friday and seek his custody for interrogation in the case. The ED has filed six charge sheets in this case so far and attached assets worth over Rs 128 crore.

The ED and CBI have alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by AAP. The policy was later scrapped, and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the irregularities in its formulation and implementation.

Kejriwal had skipped nine summonses issued by the agency for questioning in the case, calling them illegal. As ED officials carried out their action inside, additional Delhi Police personnel and Rapid Action Force (RAF) and CRPF teams were deployed around the chief minister's residence. The additional deployment was made as the ED sought extra security measures in anticipation of protests by AAP supporters.

A large number of AAP workers and leaders gathered near Kejriwal's residence and shouted slogans hailing him and denouncing the ED action. The Delhi Police also stepped up security around the agency office on A P J Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi.

During the day, Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court against the high court's order denying him any relief in the matter. Later, AAP leader Atishi said they have moved the Supreme Court for quashing Kejriwal's arrest and asked for an urgent hearing "tonight itself".

The ED's action is similar to what transpired during last week's arrest of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, who is now in ED custody in the same case. The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in this case. Kejriwal's name has been mentioned multiple times in charge sheets filed by the ED. The agency alleges that accused individuals were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for kickbacks to AAP.

The ED recently alleged that BRS leader Kavitha and others conspired with top AAP leaders like Kejriwal and Sisodia to get favours in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy by paying Rs 100 crore to AAP. Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested last week from her Hyderabad home and is currently in custody until March 23.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj reached Kejriwal's residence soon after the ED team's arrival but was not allowed inside. Atishi, who was among those gathered outside Kejriwal's residence, said that this episode shows how scared Prime Minister Narendra Modi is of Kejriwal and that he has hatched a conspiracy to send him to jail before Lok Sabha elections.

Reacting to the ED action, AAP MP Raghav Chadha alleged a big conspiracy to arrest Kejriwal just before Lok Sabha elections. In a series of posts on X, AAP said that BJP should know that it is trying to move a mountain with support from across India today. Using hashtag #IstandWithKejriwal, it said that people across India are standing with Arvind Kejriwal today against BJP's dictatorship.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that if Kejriwal has any morality left, he should step down and cooperate with ED. Earlier in the day, a Delhi High Court bench refused to grant Kejriwal any protection from coercive action in this case. The bench listed his application for further consideration on April 22 when his main petition challenging summons is fixed for hearing and asked ED to file its response.

Kejriwal is also facing an ED case related to alleged irregularities in Delhi Jal Board (DJB).