Delhi's Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal was brought to a special court by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday. Here, the ED once again sought a seven-day custody, claiming Kejriwal was uncooperative during interrogation. They aim to confront him with another accused.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal raised questions about his arrest, asking why he had been detained without charges against him. "Is there adequate basis for my arrest? I have not been found guilty in any court so far; why am I arrested then?" Yet, no relief came from the court, which extended his remand until April 1.
It is to be noted that in connection with the Delhi liquor scandal money laundering case, Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, and the court had sent him to seven days of custody. As his custody was about to end today, the ED presented him at the special court located in Rouse Avenue, Delhi. The court extended his remand by four more days, giving the ED custody until April 1.
'My name came up four times in the case'
At the court, Kejriwal noted that the interrogation was conducted in a conducive atmosphere and stated that his name was mentioned only four times throughout the case. On the other hand, the ED told the court that they recorded Kejriwal's statement during the interrogation and wish to confront him with Deepak Changela (AAP leader from Goa). The ED demanded a seven-day remand for Arvind Kejriwal.
'We want to extract full information from Kejriwal'
The ED claimed that they want to collect full details about the case and accused Kejriwal of deliberately not sharing information and his IT returns. The ED had recorded Deepak Changela's statement earlier.
'No court has found me guilty'
Kejriwal argued that the case has been ongoing for about two years and no court has found him guilty so far. The CBI has filed a chargesheet of 31,000 pages, and the ED has filed one of 25,000 pages. Till now, his name has come up in four statements. Kejriwal read out statements mentioning his name.
'We want to tell everything to the court'
Kejriwal questioned his arrest, asking if the statements citing him were sufficient for the arrest of a sitting CM. He mentioned Sharat Chandra Reddy's company, Aurobindo Pharma, and its electoral bonds, expressing willingness to face the remand and desiring to clarify everything to the court.
The court inquired why Kejriwal was not providing written statements. While the ASG objected to Kejriwal speaking, the court repeated the inquiry about submitting a written statement so that it could become a part of the court proceedings.
'Kejriwal not giving direct answers'
ASG Raju, appearing for the ED, stated that Kejriwal's responses to the questions were evasive and the examination of the digital data obtained was ongoing. Some individuals were called from Goa to record their statements face-to-face.
'The judge told Kejriwal's lawyer to lower his voice'
The ED insisted that Kejriwal's statements needed examination, and his cooperation in the investigation was required. Lawyer Ramesh Gupta expressed a desire to answer the ED's application, which led to the judge asking him to lower his volume and saying that Kejriwal's arguments had already been presented.
Read all about what transpired in the court?
- Kejriwal started by thanking the ED officers for their cooperation and noted that the case had been running for two to two and a half years. When interrupted, Kejriwal asked to speak, pointing out that his name appeared four times in the 31,000-page chargesheet. - He was accused of receiving documents from C Aravind at his home, to which he reacted, "Hundreds of people visit my home. Can I be arrested on this accusation?"
The court suggested that Kejriwal provide a written statement, but he continued to explain, speaking about his encounter with Mangunta Srinivasan regarding a land proposition and the subsequent ED raid on Srinivas's home.
Kejriwal accused the ED of framing him with the intention of entrapping him in the case. He further described the selective use of statements against him in the 25,000-page document, suggesting that after 55 crores of donations, Sharat Reddy was granted bail, insinuating that donations to the BJP were the real motive behind the investigation.
ED mentioned illicit money was funneled to Goa's elections, but Kejriwal claimed that the corruption charges involving the BJP were unrelated to the liquor scam. He stressed his readiness to aid the investigation and urged the court to consider the evidence.
ASG Raju highlighted that Kejriwal had failed to provide the password for his mobile phone recovered by the ED, which necessitated a technical breach to access it, hence they requested further remand as Kejriwal was not cooperating fully.
