A Delhi Court on Tuesday extended the Judicial Custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till May 7 in the money laundering case connected with the alleged excise policy scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court passed the order.
Kejriwal was produced before the Court at 2 PM today through video conferencing.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on allegations that he was the “key conspirator” in the money laundering case registered in the matter.
The arrest took place hours after his plea for interim protection from arrest was rejected by the Delhi High Court.
On March 22, Kejriwal was sent to ED custody till March 28.
On March 28, Kejriwal’s ED custody was extended further.
Finally, on April 1, Kejriwal was remanded to judicial custody till April 15. It was then extended till today.
The ED’s case stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17, 2022 in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.
The CBI case was registered on a complaint made by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022.
It has been alleged that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other unidentified and unnamed private persons/entities during the formulation of a nNew Excise policy for Delhi Government.
ED has alleged that Arvind Kejriwal took huge sums of money as kick backs for granting licences to the newly selected Liquor suppliers.
Several AAP leaders including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh were arrested by the ED in connection with the case.
Singh got bail from the Supreme Court on April 2.
Kejriwal’s arrest marked the first time a sitting Chief Minister in India was put behind bars while holding office.
Recently, the Delhi High Court rejected Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the central agency and the trial court order remanding him to ED custody.
The High Court also upheld the subsequent remand orders passed by the Court including the order through which Kejriwal was sent to judicial custody.
