Arvind Kejriwal’s Judicial Custody Extended

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 23 in connection with the excise policy case.

Kejriwal appeared before the court through virtual conference. The court noted that the judicial custody of co-accused K Kavitha is also extended till April 23.The 55-year-old Aam Aadmi Party convenor is in Tihar jail after he was sent to judicial custody after his Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand had ended. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 night after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the central agency.Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court sought a response from the ED on a plea filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest. The top court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked the ED to reply by April 24, and said that the matter would be heard in the week commencing April 29. On April 9, the Delhi high court had upheld the AAP convenor’s arrest, saying that the agency was left with ‘little’ option’ after Kejriwal skipped nine summonses and refused to join the probe. The court had dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s petition challenging his arrest by the ED and subsequent remand in the federal agency’s custody.The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped. Kejriwal is the first sitting chief minister to be arrested. His other colleagues Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are also lodged in jail in the same case. Earlier this month, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh walked out of Tihar jail after getting bail from the Supreme Court.