 "Kejriwal, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM")
The Delhi High Court upheld the chief minister’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the corruption case related to the alleged excise scam, dealing a blow to the AAP chief(Photo: Reuters)
The BJP on Monday reiterated its demand for resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the high court verdict upholding his arrest by the CBI in a corruption case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that it’s “unfortunate” that the BJP is trying to “mislead” the people of Delhi.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said in both the decisions — the Supreme Court’s order on the lieutenant governor’s power to appoint aldermen to MCD and the Delhi High Court’s verdict in excise policy case — are victories of the people of Delhi.
“The question now is whether Kejriwal has the moral authority to remain the Chief Minister of Delhi,” Sachdeva said and added the administration was “paralysed” and no AAP minister was ready to be accountable for it.
“The high court order has vindicated BJP’s allegations that the AAP and the Kejriwal government looted Delhi in the excise policy scam,” he charged.
It has become necessary that Kejriwal steps down as Delhi Chief Minister and someone else comes forward to take responsibility and bring administration back on track, Sachdeva said.
The Delhi High Court upheld the chief minister’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the corruption case related to the alleged excise scam, dealing a blow to the AAP chief.
The high court also disposed of his bail plea and granted him liberty to approach the trial court for relief.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said that while upholding Kejriwal’s arrest, the court noted “it can not be said that his arrest was unjustifiable or illegal”. The “whimsical” insistence of Kejriwal to run the government from jail has led to “zero governance and complete policy paralysis” in Delhi, she charged.
However, the AAP said the CBI case has not been decided on merit by the court.
“The petition before the High Court was challenging certain technical aspects of the law, as to non-compliance by prosecution of certain legal provisions,” said the AAP.
The ED case was decided on merits and it was “conclusively” held by the trial court that there exists no evidence against Arvind Kejriwal. Both the trial as well as the Supreme Court have already granted bail, said the party in a statement.
Kejriwal was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he was lodged in judicial custody in a connected money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The chief minister, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the trial court’s order was stayed by the high court.
On July 12, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the money laundering case.
The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving the formulation and execution of the excise policy.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Aug 06 2024 | 7:11 AM IST
