Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed his response to the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) affidavit in the Supreme Court on Saturday and mentioned that there exists “no proof or material” demonstrating that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) acquired funds or superior kickbacks from the South group
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed his response to the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) affidavit in the Supreme Court on Saturday and mentioned that there exists “no proof or material” demonstrating that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) acquired funds or superior kickbacks from the South group, not to mention utilising them in the Goa election marketing campaign.
“Not a single Rupee was traced back to the AAP, and the allegations put forth in this regard are devoid of any tangible evidence, rendering them vague and baseless without any corroboration,” Kejriwal mentioned in response to the ED affidavit.
“No proof of even any cash payment was given. There exists no proof or material demonstrating that the AAP received funds or advanced kickbacks from the South group, let alone utilised them in the Goa election campaign. Not a single Rupee was traced back to the AAP, and the allegations put forth in this regard are devoid of any tangible evidence, rendering them vague, baseless without any corroboration,” the affidavit acknowledged.
Recently, ED had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing Delhi Chief Kejriwal’s plea towards his arrest. Filing his rejoinder on ED’s affidavit, Kejriwal mentioned that the central company is abusing its energy of arrest in the center of the overall election.He mentioned that the mode, method and timing of his arrest simply earlier than the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections had been introduced and the Model Code of Conduct had come into play, speaks volumes concerning the “arbitrariness” of the ED.
“This timeline establishes the fact that Kejriwal has been arrested intentionally with a malafide intent without any necessity to arrest,” acknowledged the rejoinder of the Chief Minister.
The current case is a “classic case” of how the ruling party-led central authorities has misused the central agency- ED and its vast powers underneath PMLA to crush its largest political opponent -Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders, it added.Kejriwal in his response additional mentioned that there’s a obvious absence of fabric indicating his involvement in any felony exercise relating to the predicate offence whether or not it’s concealment, possession, acquisition, or utilisation of proceeds of crime to entice the vice of Section 3 PMLA.
ED illegally ‘picked up’ a sitting Chief Minister and the National Convenor of one of many six nationwide Opposition events in India on March 21, 2024, that’s, 5 days after the overall elections had been known as and the Model Code of Conduct was put in place, affidavit additional acknowledged.Kejriwal mentioned that the AAP is in direct opposition to the ruling political occasion on the Centre in the continuing normal elections and voting has already commenced as of April 19.The affidavit additional mentioned that in an election cycle when political exercise is at its highest, Kejriwal’s unlawful arrest has prompted grave prejudice to his political occasion and can give the ruling occasion on the Centre an unjust higher hand in the continuing elections.”A level playing field–which is a pre-requisite for ‘free and fair elections’- has clearly been compromised with the illegal arrest of the Petitioner,” the affidavit learn.He mentioned he has at all times cooperated with the investigation, and the apex courtroom has held in varied judgements that non-cooperation doesn’t imply that the particular person be arrested.
The affidavit of the Chief Minister additional mentioned that ED attributed the alleged “large-scale destruction of evidence” as a floor to arrest Kejriwal, nevertheless, it mentioned, “there is not even a single averment alleging the destruction of evidence of any kind by Kejriwal and hence the said ground is devoid of any merit.”“Moreover, the respondent (ED), being devoid of any cogent reason, is now raising frivolous and fictitious grounds for justifying the illegal arrest of the Petitioner (Kejriwal),” acknowledged the rejoined.Kejriwal had approached the highest courtroom difficult his arrest by ED and his subsequent remand in the excise coverage case.
The apex courtroom had earlier requested the central company to file its response to Kejriwal’s plea.Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Kejriwal had challenged a Delhi High Court judgement that dismissed his plea towards arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the excise coverage case.Kejriwal, whereas submitting an enchantment in the apex courtroom, contended that his arrest after the announcement of the overall elections was “motivated by extraneous considerations.”.
On April 9, the High Court dismissed his plea for launch from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.The High Court had mentioned that Kejriwal’s absence from 9 ED summons over six months undermined any claims of particular privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in reference to a cash laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise coverage 2021-22.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA workers and is revealed from ANI/Reuters/PTI)
