New Delhi [India], April 29 : Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday told the Supreme Court that his non-appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in pursuance of the repeated summons and his alleged non-cooperation cannot be a ground necessitating his arrest by the central agency on March 21, 2024.
Appearing for the arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta that the central agency has no material available to take away his liberty.
"You (ED) have to demonstrate the necessity of arrest based on material available with the investigating agency," Singhvi said.
He added, "ED's power to arrest is not an obligation to arrest. There must be a reason to believe, there has to be some new material or a link that connects Kejriwal directly or something. They arrested him (Kejriwal) after the model code of conduct was in place. He was neither accused nor suspect till March 2024."
Singhvi told the bench that from August 2022 till July 2023, in none of the material including the statements of the accused questioned by the ED and the charge-sheets including supplementary charge sheets, Kejriwal's name figures.
"Maximum you (ED) have Sarath Reddy statement. If I don't go for Section 50 (PMLA) statement, that does not give reason to believe that I am guilty," Singhvi told the bench.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Khanna asked Singhvi, just out of curiosity, why he did not apply for bail.
"You have challenged the arrest and the subsequent remand," said the bench to Singhvi.
The senior advocate said that they have challenged the legality of the arrest and the subsequent remand.
The bench asked whether Kejriwal has been named in the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or ECIR of ED.
Singhvi said that in none of the three charge sheets and supplementary charge sheets, the Chief Minister has been named as an accused.
The lawyer told the bench that Kejriwal is being sought to be nailed on the basis of the much later statements of the accused turned approvers -- one of them joined the ruling party, the other's father joined the ruling alliance and the third person gave Rs. 55 crores to the ruling party through Electoral Bonds.
As the arguments remained inconclusive, Singhvi will continue his submissions tomorrow.
Kejriwal had approached the top court challenging his arrest by ED and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case. The apex court had earlier asked the central agency to file its response to Kejriwal's plea.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kejriwal had challenged a Delhi High Court judgment which dismissed his plea against arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case.
Kejriwal, while filing an appeal in the apex court had contended that his arrest after the announcement of the General Elections was "motivated by extraneous considerations".
On April 9, the High Court dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.
The High Court had said that Kejriwal's absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.