- By Nidhi Giri
- Fri, 12 Jul 2024 12:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Delhi Minister Atishi questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to him in a money laundering case linked to the liquor policy. Atishi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was hatching plans to pull down the Opposition parties, terming the arrest of Kejriwal by both Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI a ‘conspiracy’ to prevent him from working for the people of the national capital.
The top court referred Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging the ED’s arrest to a larger bench. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta referred Kejriwal's petition to a larger bench to examine whether the necessity for arrest should be considered a condition under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
"...BJP knew that he (Arvind Kejriwal) has been granted bail by the Rouse Avenue Court, they know that he will get bail by the Supreme Court too. That is why, they hatched another conspiracy and the day on which the bail hearing was scheduled to come up before the Supreme Court, they made CBI arrest Arvind Kejriwal a day before that. Why was he arrested by the CBI? Because if he received bail in ED case, he would come out of jail and work for the people of Delhi 10 times faster…,” Atishi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
“I would like to tell the BJP today, one after the other - every court in this country has exposed your conspiracy... every court is granting bail to Arvind Kejriwal. I would like to tell BJP, end your arrogance and stop hatching conspiracy against other parties. Truth can be troubled but not defeated…,” she further explained.
The apex court framed three questions related to power and policy of arrest by the ED and stated that Kejriwal would be granted interim bail under the conditions outlined in the May 10 order. However, the chief minister will remain in custody due to a subsequent arrest by the CBI in a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
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The AAP supremo was arrested on March 21 by the ED in the money laundering case. The CBI also arrested him on June 26 in connection with the corruption case. The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which has now been scrapped.
"The Court observed that insofar as his arrest is concerned, there are certain aspects on the necessity of arrest... They said Kejriwal has undergone a large period of incarceration already and therefore, directed his release and bail immediately in the ED matter..." Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat, representing Arvind Kejriwal, told news agency ANI.