My arrest before elections speaks volumes about arbitrariness of ED: Kejriwal to SC

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed his response on the ED’s affidavit in the Supreme Court on Saturday and said that the mode, manner, and timing of his arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections had been announced and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) had come into play, spoke volumes about the arbitrariness of the ED.

Kejriwal, in his rejoinder, a copy accessed by this Newspaper, filed in the top court, said that his arrest is a “classic case of how the ruling party led central govt has misused the ED and PMLA to crush its biggest political opponent -Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders”.

“My arrest constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on free and fair elections and federalism, both of which form significant constituents of the basic structure of the Constitution. Being devoid of any cogent reason, ED is now raising frivolous and fictitious grounds for justifying my illegal arrest,” Kejriwal said in his reply.

Claiming innocence in the entire Delhi liquor scam case, Kejriwal said there exists no proof or material demonstrating that the AAP received funds or advanced kickbacks from the South group, utilising them in the Goa election campaign.

“Not a single rupee was traced back to the AAP, and the allegations put forth in this regard are devoid of any tangible evidence, rendering them vague, baseless without any corroboration,” Kejriwal’s affidavit said.

During an election cycle when political activity is at its highest, the Petitioner’s (Kejriwal’s) illegal arrest has caused grave prejudice to his political party, and will provide the ruling party at the Centre an unjust upper hand in the ongoing elections.

Kejriwal’s appeal is scheduled to be heard by a two-judge bench, led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, on Monday, April 29, in which he had challenged the Delhi HC order of dismissal of his plea of arrest and remand.