Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the alleged liquor policy scam on 21st March 2024 ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Kejriwal is India’s first sitting chief minister to be arrested by a law enforcement agency. In 2021, the Kejriwal government had changed Delhi’s excise policy on liquor and withdrew from retail sale of liquor and allowed private licensees to run the stores. The new policy was rolled out with an extraordinarily high 12% profit margin for wholesalers and almost 185% profit margin for the retailers. In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar revealed multiple violations in the policy and alleged "undue benefits" to liquor licensees resulting in removal of the policy in September 2022. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) & ED claimed that the policy change was a conspiracy planned by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, member Manish Sisodia and businessmen Sarath Reddy, Magunta Srinivasulu Redd & K Kavitha. According to the reports, the group of businessmen got 9 zones out of 32 in Delhi under new excise policy 2021-22 under the agreement that 6% out of the 12% (half profit margin) will be given to AAP party members & leader as a kickback. Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha were arrested last week. According to the reports, Mr. Kejriwal was summoned 8 times by ED since October 2023 to question him about his involvement in the same but he ignored the summons. ED had then summoned him for the 9th time on 21st March 2024 but he skipped that too. Therefore, an ED team of 12 officials, led by Additional Director Kapil Raj visited Kejriwal’s house in the evening with a search warrant. The ED team confiscated Kejriwal’s and his wife's mobiles and also transferred data from 2 tablets and a laptop. During the ED’s visit, Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnels and CRPF teams were deployed outside Kejriwal’s residence. The area outside his house was also barricaded. The ED team searched the premises and questioned Kejriwal. Two hours later he was arrested and taken to the ED headquarters in Delhi at around 9 pm. Thousands of AAP workers and supporters protested Kejriwal’s arrest. The protest resulted in a massive traffic jam extending for several kilometers from Vidhan Sabha to Civil Lines in New Delhi. The protesters & supporters were detained by the authorities to control the situation & restore traffic movement. Kejriwal requested protection from arrest from the Delhi High Court but it denied his request & asked the ED to file a reply to his petition. Delhi’s education minister called Kejriwal’s arrest a "conspiracy by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi". Soon after Kejriwal’s arrest, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva demanded Kejriwal's immediate resignation through a media interview. After midnight, AAP called a press conference and announced that it has called a nationwide protest against the BJP the next day i.e today, 22nd March 2024 and also said that Kejriwal ‘is & will remain the CM’ & will continue to perform his duties from the jail. AAP has planned to protest outside the BJP headquarters in Delhi and said that the INDIA bloc parties support AAP. All the parties of INDIA bloc have condemned Kejriwal’s arrest and blamed BJP of using national central agencies as a weapon to win the upcoming elections. According to the reports, AAP has appealed in the Supreme Court and the hearing for the same is scheduled for today i.e 22nd March 2024 at 10 am. Keep watching ISH News for further updates and to stay informed about the latest affairs of the world.

Tags

• arvind kejriwal
• ed
• aap
• delhi

Advertisement