ED gets Lt Governor's 'nod' to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal just before Delhi polls; AAP terms news as fake
PTC Web Desk: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received sanction from Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena to prosecute former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged liquor policy case, sources said on Saturday. This move comes just weeks before the crucial Delhi Assembly elections, where AAP is vying for a fourth consecutive term amid strong competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On December 5, the ED sought sanction for prosecution under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, citing a Supreme Court judgment from November 6. The ED's request highlighted a "huge level of corruption in the formulation and implementation" of the excise policy. The Supreme Court's ruling stated that public servants cannot be prosecuted for money laundering without prior government approval, as per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Earlier, prosecution sanctions were only required for agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and state police, not the ED. Kejriwal was arrested earlier this year by both the ED and CBI on charges linked to the alleged excise policy scam—on March 21 by the ED and on June 26 by the CBI. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in both cases.
In November, Arvind Kejriwal filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking to quash the trial court's order that had taken cognizance of the ED's seventh supplementary charge sheet. His plea argued that the chargesheet was filed without the necessary prosecution sanction, as he was a public servant at the time of the alleged offense. The ED had sought additional time to respond to the petition.
The trial court had decided to proceed with the case on July 9, citing enough evidence in the ED's 200-page charge sheet, which named Arvind Kejriwal and AAP as accused.
In response, AAP leaders dismissed the sanction as a distraction from the issue of the alleged insult to Dr BR Ambedkar. Former Delhi Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia questioned the legitimacy of the sanction, urging the ED to present a copy of the approval.
"If the Lt Governor has given permission to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, then why is the ED not showing the copy of that permission?" Sisodia said. "This news is false and misleading. It's a diversion tactic to shift focus away from the Ambedkar issue."
AAP’s chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar echoed these sentiments, calling the news false. “If sanction has been granted to the ED, let them show the copy,” Kakkar said.
- With inputs from agencies
