Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal withdrew his petition challenging the arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at his residence regarding the Delhi excise policy case tied to a money laundering investigation on Friday. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, informed a two-judge bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna of the withdrawal, citing a scheduling conflict with the ED’s remand hearing in the trial court. Singhvi stated, “Because (ED) remand is clashing, decided to withdraw it… will fight the remand and come back to your Lordships.” Justice Khanna responded, “You need not be present, you may go there.” Singhvi mentioned that he would submit a letter to the apex court Registry regarding the withdrawal of the plea.
Earlier in the day, the apex court had agreed to hear Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest by the ED. A special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh, and Bela Trivedi was scheduled to hear the matter. Initially, Singhvi brought up Kejriwal’s plea before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for an urgent hearing. “If this process goes on, before the first vote is cast, a lot of senior leaders will be behind the bars. Please take it up,” Singhvi urged the bench. Subsequently, CJI Chandrachud directed Singhvi to mention the plea before a special three-judge bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, which was already hearing the plea of BRS leader K Kavitha against her arrest by the ED in a liquor policy case.
The petition filed by Kejriwal challenged his arrest by the ED subsequent to the incident that occurred the previous night. On Thursday, the Delhi High Court declined to grant Kejriwal any protection from coercive action in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. It deferred the consideration of AAP leader’s application seeking protection for further review on April 22, coinciding with the hearing of his main petition challenging the summons, and instructed the Enforcement Directorate to file its response.
During the court proceedings, the Enforcement Directorate presented documents related to the probe and argued for the necessity of summoning Kejriwal for questioning. Kejriwal had approached the court following the issuance of the ninth summons by the ED, requiring him to appear before them on Thursday.
The case revolves around alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was subsequently annulled. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are currently in judicial custody in connection with this case. Kejriwal’s name has been mentioned multiple times in the chargesheets filed by the ED, which alleges that the accused had liaised with Kejriwal in formulating the excise policy, resulting in undue benefits for them, in exchange for kickbacks to the party.