The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate on a plea by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest in the liquor policy case. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on Kejriwal’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that had upheld his arrest in the case. The bench asked the Enforcement Directorate to file a reply to the plea by April 24, and said the matter would be heard in the week commencing April 29.

The High Court had on April 9 upheld Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest in the money-laundering case, and said the ED was left with little option after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation. The high court had dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and subsequent remand in its custody.

The matter is related to money laundering and alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 that has been scrapped. The Delhi CM was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by ED. The AAP Supremo is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.

The Delhi High Court last week said that there was nothing illegal about Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. Justice Swarna Kanta recorded a prima facie finding that there was adequate proof, including statements of approves, involvement of middlemen and references that cash was handed over for expenditure in the 2022 Goa elections. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the Delhi Chief Minister’s petition challenging his arrest and subsequent remand in Enforcement Directorate’s custody. The court additionally stated that Arvind Kejriwal was involved in an individual capacity in the formulation of the now-scrapped liquor policy and in soliciting bribes.

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