No Urgent Hearing, High Court To Hear Arvind Kejriwal's Plea Next Week

The Delhi High Court has turned down Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's request for an urgent hearing on his petition in which he has challenged his arrest as well as a lower court's order granting the Enforcement Directorate his custody for seven days.

The Aam Aadmi Party chief was arrested on Thursday in the liquor policy case and, the next day, the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi had remanded him in the ED's custody till March 28. The petition against his arrest had been filed by Mr Kejriwal on Saturday and he had also sought an urgent hearing of the case by Sunday.

The Delhi High Court has, however, said the matter will be listed for reopening on Wednesday, the first working day after the two holidays for Holi. This was confirmed by the high court's registry. 

In his petition filed earlier on Saturday, Mr Kejriwal had termed his arrest as well as the remand order illegal. The high court had refused to grant protection from arrest to the AAP chief on Thursday and he had been taken into custody by the ED hours later. "We have heard both sides, and we are not inclined at this stage (to grant protection). The respondent (ED) is at liberty to file a reply," a two-judge bench had said. 

Protests Tomorrow

The Delhi Chief Minister's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, who had read out a message by him earlier in the day, reached the agency's headquarters to meet him on Saturday evening.

The AAP, which has claimed its party chief's arrest is a conspiracy by the BJP, will hold protests in all 70 Assembly constituencies of Delhi on Sunday, an AAP leader said. The party has accused the BJP of misusing agencies and going after opposition leaders, and the protests against Mr Kejriwal's arrest will see candle marches as well as the burning of effigies.

"Arvind Kejriwal's arrest will prove to be the final nail as far as the rule of the Narendra Modi government is concerned," said the AAP leader.

The ED, which is investigating the money laundering angle in the alleged scam relating to the Delhi liquor policy of 2021-22, has accused Mr Kejriwal of being the "kingpin" and a key conspirator.

It has claimed the policy, which was later scrapped, provided a profit margin of 12% for wholesalers and nearly 185% for retailers. Of the 12%, six was to be recovered from wholesalers as kickbacks for AAP leaders and a lobby called the South Group allegedly gave Rs 100 crore in advance to another accused in the case, Vijay Nair, who was linked to the ruling party in Delhi.