NEW DELHI: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday came down heavily on the Aam Admi Party (AAP) after the Delhi High Court dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kjriwal’s bail challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the liquor policy money laundering case. Addressing a press conference, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Delhi High Court’s verdict has shattered the AAP’a arrogance today. “Aam Aadmi Party’s arrogance has been shattered. The self-proclaimed honest character (of Arvind Kejriwal) has also been shattered by facts and proofs,” BJP’s spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
#WATCH | Delhi: After Delhi High Court dismisses CM Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest ED in the Excise Policy money laundering case, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP’s spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi says, “Aam Aadmi Party’s arrogance has been shattered. The self-proclaimed… pic.twitter.com/4koWnR3347
— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2024
The BJP leader further stated, “For the so-called Aam Aadmi chief minister, the court has clearly said that the law cannot be different for the common man and AAP’s chief minister…The ‘Aam Aadmi’ cape has been pulled off as he (Arvind Kejriwal) wanted the treatment of a ‘Khas Aadmi’.”
Hitting back, AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the ED and the CBI did not even find a rupee during their searches in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. “They are talking about crores. But ED and CBI have not found even a rupee of illegal money. Witnesses have been pressured to change their statements and say what ED wants them to,” he said. “This issue is not about money laundering. This is the biggest political conspiracy in India’s history,” he said.
The sources within the Aam Aadmi Party also said that the party does not agree with the decision of the Delhi High Court and is most likely to approach the Supreme Court. Kejriwal can go to the Supreme Court tomorrow itself, ANI reported.
The reactions from the BJP and AAP came after the Delhi High Court dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Excise policy case and said that Kejriwal’s arrest is not in contravention of Law and remand can’t be termed “illegal”.
The bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma said ED had enough material which had led them to arrest Kejriwal. Non-joining of the investigation by Kejriwal, the delay caused by him also impacted those in judicial custody.
The material collected by the Enforcement Directorate reveals that Arvind Kejriwal conspired and was actively involved in the use and concealment of proceeds of crime. The ED case also reveals that he was involved in his ”personal” capacity as well as the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The court further stated that this court thinks that the accused has been arrested and his arrest and remand have to be examined as per law and not as per the timing of elections. Kejriwal’s challenge to the timing of arrest before General elections in the absence of any mala fide on the part of ED is not sustainable, said the court.
Arvind Kejriwal through the plea alleged that the ED has at the time of arrest “failed to establish” that the petitioner is guilty of committing activities stipulated under Section 3, i.e., be it one of concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime as much as projecting it as untainted property or claiming it to be so.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the excise policy case. The trial court on April 1, sent Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15, 2024. ED alleged that the Aam Adami Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged liquor scam. The agency also claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the excise policy.
Delhi Liquor Policy Case: A Background
The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi Excise Policy 2022, which was later scrapped. While Kejriwal was not named in the FIRs registered by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi excise policy case, his name first found a mention in the ED’s chargesheet, wherein the agency claimed that he allegedly spoke to one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, in a video call and asked him to continue working with co-accused and AAP communications-in-charge Vijay Nair.
Nair was among the first people to be arrested by the CBI in the case, in 2022. Subsequently, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were arrested in connection with the case. The latter, however, was granted bail by the Supreme Court last week.