New Delhi [India], May 9 : The legal team of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor, Arvind Kejriwal has raised a strong objection on Thursday to the affidavit filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposing interim bail in the Supreme Court.
A formal complaint has been lodged with the Supreme Court's registry denouncing the ED's affidavit as a blatant disregard of legal procedures, especially considering that the matter is already slated for a final decision in the SC tomorrow and the affidavit was submitted without taking the SC's approval.
Questioning the ED's objection to the interim bail of CM Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP said that it is well known that even after two years of investigation by the ED in the alleged liquor scam, not a single rupee or piece of evidence has been recovered incriminating anybody in Aam Aadmi Party.
"Further, the grounds of arrest of Arvind Kejriwal are based on statements made by other implicated persons viz. Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Sarath Reddy, Satya Vijay Naik, and a close aide of an ex-BJP CM. The ED has relied solely on the statements of these accused turned witnesses with direct links to and benefitting from the BJP. For instance, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, who received an NDA Lok Sabha ticket, gave a statement to facilitate the bail of his son, Raghav Reddy. Another approver, P. Sarath Reddy, sent Rs60 crores to the BJP's account through electoral bonds to secure his own bail," the release said.
"A third person, Satya Vijay Naik, who fought 2022 Goa assembly elections on the AAP ticket, is closely associated with Goa CM Pramod Sawant and fought on the BJP ticket in 2012 and 2017. Another accused turned approver was a close aide of former BJP CM Manohar Parrikar. Thus, all 4 incriminating statements are from persons closely linked to the BJP," it added.
The AAP further added that these statements indicate a pattern "these persons were arrested, they made multiple statements which did not implicate Shri Arvind Kejriwal. The ED repeatedly objected to their bail, they made statements implicating Shri Arvind Kejriwal, they were granted bail/pardon without the ED objecting to it. All the statements where there is no allegation against Shri Arvind Kejriwal were deliberately ignored by the ED."
"Some of these statements do not even indicate the commission of money laundering or any predicate offence. All of the evidence against Shri Arvind Kejriwal as shown in the Grounds of Arrest have come after the arrest of all these people, leading to a suspicion that the arrest has been systematically used as a device to coerce statements against Shri Arvind Kejriwal," the AAP shared.
The AAP mentioned that the ED illegally 'picked up' a sitting Chief Minister and the National Convenor of a national party on 21.03.2024, that is, 5 days after the General Elections were announced and the Model Code of Conduct was put in place. The AAP is in direct opposition to the ruling BJP at the Centre in the ongoing General Elections and voting had already commenced from 17.04.2024. During an election cycle when political activity is at its peak, Shri Arvind Kejriwal's illegal arrest has caused grave prejudice to the AAP and will provide the BJP at the Centre an unjust upper hand in the ongoing elections. A level playing field, which is a prerequisite for 'free and fair elections', has clearly been compromised with the illegal arrest of Shri Arvind Kejriwal.
The party stated that the ED has not only been opaque and dictatorial in its approach but also guilty of suggestio falsi (suggesting falsehood) and suppressio veri (suppressing truth).
"Arvind Kejriwal's 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. The ED abused its power of arrest in the middle of General Election and while relying on the same material as was in possession months before his arrest," the release said.
The AAP further detailed that there is no material to show the involvement of any AAP leader in the process or activity related to POC, be it one of concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime as much as projecting it as untainted property or claiming it to be so.
"There is no proof that the AAP received any funds from "South Group". The ED in its counter affidavit filed before the High Court has already admitted that Shri Arvind Kejriwal was not involved in handling the transfer of any amounts," the party said.
The AAP shared that the ED has categorically stated in their reply filed in these proceedings, that Arvind Kejriwal is not named as an accused in the ECIR; nor is he named as an accused in the scheduled offence registered by the CBI, which is the foundation of the proceedings in the ECIR.
"The power to arrest in this case is a glaring abuse of the due process of law as well as the procedure established. The ED's approach completely negates the basic tenets and foundation principles of criminal jurisprudence, that is, fair investigation, fair trial and rule of law," the party said.
Earlier today, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the grant of interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said a politician cannot claim a higher status than an ordinary citizen and was not entitled to differential treatment.
ED, while filing an affidavit in Delhi's excise policy case, said a politician can claim no special status higher than that of an ordinary citizen and is as much liable to be arrested and detained for committing offences as any other citizen.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Dutta had hinted of granting interim bail to Kejriwal to enable him to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. However, it had also said that if interim bail is granted, Kejriwal would not be allowed to discharge any official duties as Chief Minister.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the excise policy case.