NEW DELHI, 10 Apr: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday sought an early hearing in the Supreme Court on his plea challenging a high court order upholding his arrest in a money laundering case.
“I will look into the email (seeking early listing of plea). Please send the mail,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud told senior advocate and Kejriwal’s counsel Abhishek Singhvi.
“This is urgent and is regarding the Delhi chief minister. The arrest is based on an un-relied document and suppressed from us,” Singhvi said.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal moved the top court against the 9 April judgement of the high court.
In a blow to Kejriwal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld his arrest in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, saying that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.
The high court also cited the ED’s claim that Kejriwal conspired and was actively involved in the use and concealment of the proceeds of crime to reject his petition against his arrest.
The high court had chastised the Aam Aadmi Party leader, who was claimed to be involved in money laundering in his “personal capacity” and in his capacity as the national convener of the political party, for questioning the timing of his arrest and underlined that an investigation against the “classes and masses” cannot be different.
The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on 21 March, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.
He was sent to judicial custody in the case on 1 April after he was produced in the trial court on expiry of ED custody. (PTI)