Arvind Kejriwal's ED custody extended till April 1

The agency had sought seven-day custody of the AAP chief, but the court said he has to be produced before the court on April 1 at 11 am.

New Delhi:  A Delhi court on Thursday extended custodial interrogation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1 as the Enforcement Directorate claimed that he has so far remained evasive and did not co-operate in the investigation related to the liquor policy scam case.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja allowed a plea by the ED for further interrogation of Kejriwal in order to confront him with the other persons.

"Having considered the submission made before this court and  considering the grounds, cited by the Investigating Agency, there appear to be sufficient reasons to permit further custodial interrogation of the accused, particularly keeping in view the submissions that he is required to be confronted with the material collected and statements recorded so far in the course of investigation," the court said.

The judge also rejected Kejriwal's contention questioning validity of his arrest, saying the matter was pending before the Delhi High Court.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21, 2024. He was produced before the court after the end of the custodial interrogation.

The HC had on March 27 issued notice to the ED on a writ petition by Kejriwal questioning his arrest and remand and fixed the matter for consideration on April 3. It had also rejected a plea for interim relief.

On Thursday, the ED sought his further custody for seven days, saying data from his four digital devices, seized during searches at his residence on March 21, are yet to be extracted as he has yet not provided password or login credentials.

During the ED custody, data in one mobile phone, belonging to arrestee's wife, has been extracted and is being analysed, the agency led by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said.

Further, statements of three other persons have also been taken during the period of remand. During the ED custody period, C Arvind, PS to then Dy CM Manish Sisodia who was handed over the draft GoM report 2021-22 at the residence of Arvind Kejriwal and in his presence, was confronted with him.

"Statement of one of the candidates of AAP of Goa elections in 2022 is also recorded during this period. He has allegedly revealed that he was not having any money and his election expenditure (all expenses for rallies/events/public hoardings) was taken care by AAP Office Delhi only through their associates," it also said.

The ED also summoned AAP Goa chief Amit Palekar to confront him with Kejriwal.

During the hearing, Kejriwal himself submitted that he was not opposing the application for custodial remand. He, however, claimed the entire case was a political conspiracy and the agency was being used to extract statement from approver against him.

He also contended the ED can't force him to unlock his devices.

Kejriwal also claimed the agency has not been able to connect him with the alleged offences.

The ED had earlier claimed Kejriwal was the kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi excise scam as he was involved in formulating the policy in 2021-22 to favour certain persons and in exchange of bribe over Rs 100 Cr.

It claimed Rs 45 Cr, the part of money received through Hawala routes, were used in Goa Assembly elections.

During the ED remand period, summons were issued to senior excise officials in Punjab who were involved in the arm-twisting of certain wholesalers of Delhi when they refused to pay the demanded bribes in Delhi, the agency said. 

"The factories of these wholesalers were either shut down or not allowed to dispatch their goods in Punjab by these Punjab Excise Officials when the demands of bribes were not fulfilled in Delhi. However, they could not appear on these summons due to Hooch Tragedy in Sangrur Punjab and sought some time," the agency said.

The ED registered the money laundering case on August 22, 2022 in relation of scheduled offences of the CBI which lodged its case on August 17, 2022 in connection with irregularities committed in framing and implementation of excise policy for the year 2021-22 and payment of bribe.