The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on two separate petitions filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, challenging lower court orders in the alleged excise policy money laundering case.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja sought the ED’s response within six weeks and scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 10.
Kejriwal has approached the high court under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, challenging:
- A September 17, 2024 sessions court order that dismissed his revision plea against the March 7, 2024 magisterial court order summoning him in the case.
- A December 20, 2024 sessions court ruling that upheld the magisterial court’s decision dated October 24, 2024, which rejected his plea seeking transfer of the case to another court.
At the outset, the ED’s counsel objected to the maintainability of the petitions, contending they were disguised second revision petitions, which are not legally permissible under CrPC provisions. The court, however, directed the agency to include all such preliminary objections in its written response.
The ED also highlighted the delay of nearly 10 months in challenging the special court’s order.
Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED in March 2024 in connection with the money laundering probe, was granted bail by a trial court on June 20, but the Delhi High Court stayed that relief on the ED’s appeal.
Later, on July 12, 2024, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail and referred key questions on the interpretation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act — specifically the necessity and grounds for arrest — to a larger bench.
The ED’s probe is based on a CBI FIR filed after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena recommended an investigation into the Delhi government’s now-scrapped 2021–22 excise policy. Both central agencies allege that the policy was tweaked to benefit certain licence holders, leading to unlawful gains.
The policy was implemented in November 2021 and withdrawn in September 2022, following public and political outcry over alleged corruption and irregularities.
