‘Kejriwal did not appear on the summons by making excuses, this indicates that he is an accused…’, ED said in the Supreme Court
Hearing was held in the Supreme Court today (May 16) on the petition challenging the arrest of CM Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the Delhi liquor scam. Today’s hearing has been completed, now the next hearing will be held tomorrow at 2.30 pm. Tomorrow ED will argue for 15 minutes and Kejriwal’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi will debate for 45 minutes.
During the hearing in the Supreme Court today, Kejriwal’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that out of Rs 100 crore, ED has accounted for only two amounts. On this, Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju whether you have reduced this amount to Rs 45 crore? On this ASG Raju replied that no, we had said that Rs 45 crore has been traced.
‘The agency is not motivated by any politics’
Justice Khanna asked that you had said that preliminary seizure is not mandatory. You had made these arguments earlier. On this, ASG Raju said that our argument was that seizure/attachment was not necessary. Even without this there could have been a conviction, if we had really put pressure on Sharath Reddy, he would have given a completely different statement. Sharat Reddy only said that he had met Kejriwal. They could also have said that Kejriwal had asked for Rs 100 crore. The investigating agency is completely impartial. We have enough evidence. The agency is not motivated by any politics.
‘Kejriwal avoided summons on false pretext’
ASG Raju said that Kejriwal avoided the summons on false pretext. This is a sign of being an accused. We have evidence that Vijay Nair is completely involved in this liquor policy. He lived in a bungalow allotted for ministers, although he had nothing to do with that house.
Criteria for credibility of approver’s statement are different: Court
Justice Khanna: Many people might be living in the houses of many ministers. You can’t say why he is staying. The criteria for credibility of the approver’s statement are different. He gets the benefit of confession, this must be confirmed. ASG Raju said that when Kejriwal was arrested, the magistrate had also examined the facts. The magistrate was satisfied with the implementation of Section 19 of PMLA. Justice Khanna asked ED that how much time do you need for arguments? ED asked for 15 minutes. At the same time, Singhvi said that he wants 45 minutes. The Supreme Court said that this case will be heard tomorrow on Friday at 2.30 pm. Singhvi said that we will present our stand tomorrow itself.
Kejriwal got interim bail on May 10
Let us tell you that Arvind Kejriwal got interim bail from the Supreme Court on May 10. The Supreme Court had ordered the release of Kejriwal on interim bail till June 1 to campaign for the elections. He will have to surrender on June 2. Kejriwal was released on certain conditions. One of these conditions was to not talk about this case.
