Delhi court to hear Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging arrest in GST policy case tomorrow

Arvind Kejriwal’s name mentioned several times in chargesheet filed by ED (File)

New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court will hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition on Wednesday challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) arrest of him in a money laundering case related to the alleged GST policy scam.

Mr Kejriwal’s petition seeking his immediate release as the arrest and subsequent remand to the ED was “illegal” was listed at 10.30am by Justice Swarana Kanta Shar Swarana Kanta Sharma.

The national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was arrested on March 21 and was later remanded to the ED custody by a Delhi court till March 28.

Kejriwal moved the high court last week but his request for an emergency hearing was rejected as the high court was adjourned for Holi, according to top sources.

The trial court on Friday remanded Mr Kejriwal to ED till March 28 “as he was subjected to detailed and sustained interrogation”.

The ED arrested Kejriwal hours after the High Court refused to grant protection to Kejriwal from enforcement action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.

Kejriwal had earlier moved the court seeking quashing and quashing of all proceedings, including summons, issued against him.

In that petition, Mr Kejriwal said he was a “vocal critic” of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, the leader of the opposition and a partner of the India Group, while the education board, which is controlled by the federal government, has been “weaponized”.

The case relates to alleged corruption and money laundering by the Delhi government in formulating and implementing the GST policy for 2021-22, which was later repealed.

Senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were sent to judicial custody in the case.

Mr Kejriwal’s name has been mentioned several times in the chargesheet filed by the ED.

The agency alleged that the accused were in contact with Mr. Kejriwal to formulate the GST policy, which gave them undue benefit and they paid kickbacks to AAP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)