Arvind Kejriwal produced before Rouse Avenue Court by ED: LIVE UPDATES

Delhi Chief Minister (CM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has been produced before the Rouse Avenue Court magistrate by the Enforcement Directorate for his custody in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja is hearing ED's plea for the CM's custody.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on Thursday after a late night search at his residence on Thursday.

He was earlier refused interim protection from arrest by the Delhi High Court.

A division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain of the High Court had said that it was not inclined to grant any such protection at this stage.

This was followed by a search by the ED at the Delhi CM's residence followed by his arrest.

Kejriwal had then moved the Supreme Court challenging his arrest but later chose to withdraw that plea.

The ED’s money laundering probe stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17, 2022 in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. 

The CBI case was registered on a complaint made by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022. 

It has been alleged that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other unidentified and unnamed private persons/entities during the stage of the policy’s formulation.

The conspiracy, it has been alleged, stemmed from some of the loopholes “intentionally” left or created in the policy. These were allegedly meant to favour some licensees and conspirators post the tender process.

Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh are already behind bars in the case.

On March 15, 2024, the ED also arrested the daughter of Bharat Rashtra Samiti legislator and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, K Kavitha in the case.

Read live updates from Rouse Avenue court.