SC questions ED on timing of Kejriwal’s arrest, seeks its reply

New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate on the timing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest ahead of the general elections and sought a reply from the agency. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to reply on the question of the timing and said, “Life and liberty are exceedingly important. You can’t deny that.”

The bench, which asked Raju several other questions, asked the probe agency to reply on the next date of hearing of Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest in the money laundering case related to the excise policy scam. The matter is likely to be taken up for hearing on Friday — from Wednesday, both judges will be sitting in different combinations. Kejriwal is currently lodged in the Tihar jail here under judicial custody after his arrest on March 21 in the case.

The top court issued ED a notice on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal’s plea. On April 9, the high court upheld Kejriwal’s arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation. The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s now scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.