Delhi Excise policy case: Supreme Court seeks response from ED on timing of Kejriwal's arrest

The Supreme Court on Tuesday raised question on the timing of the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the excise policy case and sought a reply from the probe agency.

The court referred to the question of the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest, which was shortly before the Lok Sabha elections. The apex court has asked the probe agency to respond on Friday.

Hearing a plea by the CM challenging his arrest, the Supreme Court said, “Liberty is very exceedingly important, you can’t deny that. The last question is with regard to the timing of the arrest, which they have pointed out, the timing of the arrest, soon before the general elections”.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21.

Earlier this month, the Delhi high court upheld Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, noting that the agency had no other option as Kejriwal was not cooperating in the probe in addition to saying that ED had enough material in possession to make the arrest.

On Monday, Kejriwal's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that ignoring the agency's summonses can't be a ground necessitating Kejriwal’s arrest. He said the agency had no material required to take away his liberty.

"ED's power to arrest is not an obligation to arrest. There must be a reason to believe, there has to be some new material or a link that connects Kejriwal directly or something. They arrested him (Kejriwal) after the model code of conduct was in place. He was neither accused nor suspect till March 2024," he added.