Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s judicial detention in a money-laundering case involving the alleged excise fraud was extended by a Delhi court on Tuesday till May 20.
After the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appeared in court via video conference to discuss the expiration of his previous custody order, Special Judge for the CBI and ED Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Courts extended Kejriwal’s custody till May 20.
Chanpreet Singh, a co-accused, has had his judicial detention extended by the judge till May 20.
In the meantime, Kejriwal’s request for temporary release is now being heard by the Supreme Court.
On the evening of March 21, Kejriwal was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Delhi High Court denied Kejriwal’s appeal on April 10 contesting his detention, noting that the ED had sufficient evidence, as well as statements from supporters and the AAP candidate, to indicate that Kejriwal received funding for the Goa elections.
The Chief Minister of Delhi has filed a case before the Supreme Court against the aforementioned ruling issued by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma’s Delhi High Court panel. His petition is being heard by the Supreme Court today.
Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, two prominent AAP members, are also charged in the ED case. Sisodia is still behind bars, while Singh was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court as a result of an ED concession.
The ED claims that Arvind Kejriwal is the “kingpin” of the Delhi excise scam and is directly engaged in the use of criminal gains totaling more than Rs. 100 crore.
According to ED, the excise policy was imposed as part of a scheme to offer some private enterprises a 12 percent wholesale business profit, despite the fact that such a provision was not included in Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting minutes.
The Central Agency has also stated that Vijay Nair and other persons, together with the South Group, conspired to provide wholesalers with huge profit margins.
Nair was operating on behalf of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, according to the agency.
With inputs from agencies
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Excise ‘scam’: Delhi court extends judicial custody of CM Arvind Kejriwal till May 20
