Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, officials said.
The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection to Kejriwal from any coercive action by the agency. Soon after the high court order, an ED team reached his residence and carried out searches. Subsequently, he was arrested, officials said.
To run govt from jail: Atishi
Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi on Thursday said Arvind Kejriwal will continue as the chief minister and run the city government from prison if needed after his arrest by the ED in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. She also said that the Aam Aadmi Party has moved the Supreme Court against the action by the federal agency.
“He will continue as the chief minister of Delhi. If need be, he will run the government from jail. There is no rule that stops him from running the government from jail,” Atishi told reporters here.
In a post on ‘X’, the AAP leader said, “We have moved the Supreme Court for quashing the arrest of Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal, by ED. We have asked for an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court tonight itself.”
Earlier in the day the Delhi High Court refused to grant Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal any protection from coercive action in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain listed the AAP leader’s application seeking protection for further consideration on April 22 when his main petition challenging the summons is fixed for hearing.
“We have heard both sides and we are not inclined at this stage (to grant protection). The respondent is at liberty to file reply,” the bench said.
The application for interim relief forms part of Kejriwal’s petition challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s summonses issued to him for questioning.
