Supreme Court questions ED about the timing of the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. “Liberty is very exceedingly important, you can’t deny that. The last question is with regard to the timing of the arrest, which they have pointed out, the timing of the arrest, soon before the general elections” – Justice Sanjiv Khanna tells ASG SV Raju.
ED asked to respond on Friday.
Highlights of today’s proceedings
- Justice Khanna mentioned that in Kejriwal’s case, there have been no attachments proceedings till now. However, if there are, ED would have to show how he was related.
- How is Section 19 PMLA to be interpreted, as Kejriwal is coming against arrest and remand, instead of applying for bail, because he would have to face the higher threshold under Section 45 PMLA if he takes the latter course?
- The time gap between the initiation of proceedings and repeated complaints being filed after some time
- The timing of arrest i.e. before general elections
- After listening to arguments from Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s lawyer, Abhishek Singhvi, regarding the plea in the Supreme Court against his arrest by the ED, Justice Khanna expressed concerns about the “timing” of the arrest, especially considering it was just before general elections. He urged ASG Raju, representing the ED, to be prepared with a response.