'It could backfire on the BJP and boost the Opposition parties.'
The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to appear before it on February 26 for questioning in the excise policy linked money laundering case, official sources said Thursday.
The judge had reserved the order after hearing arguments on Sisodia's plea seeking relief claiming that his custody was no longer required for investigation.
Delhi former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is now lodged in Tihar's jail after Rouse Avenue Court on Monday sent him to judicial custody till March 20 in connection with the excise policy case.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued two summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear for questioning on March 18 and 21, official sources said Sunday.
Sisodia hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he only thinks of destabilising governments in non-BJP states by poaching MLAs.
Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain on Tuesday resigned from the Cabinet, amid corruption allegations against them.
Sisodia said he will fully cooperate with the CBI that has summoned him for questioning in the excise policy case.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was sent to Tihar Jail after a court remanded him in judicial custody till April 15 in the excise policy case, will remain under 24x7 watch with CCTV cameras in his cell and could watch TV and read books, officials said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal 'directly used' part of the alleged Rs 100 crore generated from the 'kickbacks' of the Delhi excise policy 'scam' by staying in a luxury hotel in Goa, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed in its charge sheet filed against the Aam Aadmi Party supremo.
Two former MLAs Neeraj Basoya and Nasseb Singh resigned from the primary membership of the party putting the party's Lok Sabha preparations in doubt.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party remained tight-lipped about whether the chief minister will appear before the Enforcement Directorate or not.
Sisodia was arrested Sunday over alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The AAP said that the ED should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to Kejriwal.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal mounted a blazing campaign in the hot summer after he was released from the Tihar jail on interim bail on May 10, drawing huge crowds at rallies and roadshows, but it proved insufficient to propel his Aam Aadmi Party past the Bharartiya Janata Party challenge in the national capital.
The New York Times story on Delhi's education system was based on 'an impartial and on-the-ground reporting', the American newspaper said on Friday, rejecting the paid news charge.
Please promise, especially those millions who trust you with their hard-earned money, never to let your voting preferences determine your actions on the markets. The most appalling and scary phenomenon was fund houses and brokerages going out on election yatras and writing copious reports promising more than 300 for the BJP. That was your wish as voters. Your investors are paying for it now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Kejriwal said the CBI raid at Sisodia's house was the result of their good performance which is being appreciated globally.
The AAP has accused the BJP of wanting to impose President's rule in Delhi by poaching its legislators and breaking the party.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, which reserved its verdict on two separate regular bail pleas of Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases, told the ED it cannot go by the assumption of bribe having been paid, and whatever protection an accused enjoys under law needs to be granted.
Singh alleged that the BJP was attempting to "defame" Delhi CM, claiming that all attempts to bring a bad name to Kejriwal and his party will fail.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti asked additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the two probe agencies, when will the arguments on charges against Sisodia commence in the trial court.
The federal agency had arrested 46-year-old Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, from her Banjara hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15.
If Kejriwal is arrested, it will take very little for Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to summon a meeting of the assembly, direct it to elect a new leader of the House, and, if it doesn't, dissolve it and impose President's Rule, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
The bench has divided the hearing on Kejriwal's petition against his arrest into two parts. His main petition challenges his arrest by the ED and seeks it to be declared as illegal, while the second aspect pertains to grant of interim bail keeping in mind the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The court has reserved the order on the issue of grant of interim bail.
He also asserted that no one can take the place of Kejriwal in the AAP.
Several BJP leaders recalled Kejriwal's claim of probity and past allegations of corruption against politicians, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar among others, while seeking their arrest, as they claimed that he has been exposed now.
The prospect of the Delhi chief minister's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, who has so far maintained a distance from politics, assuming a new role is also being discussed by people.
Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha is expected to be produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court by the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi on Saturday for obtaining her remand for custodial interrogation in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22, officials said.
A day after accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of "hatching a conspiracy to assassinate" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, fearing poll defeats in Gujarat and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, his deputy Manish Sisodia Friday demanded a probe into it and said a complaint will also be submitted to the Election Commission.
In a fresh affidavit filed in the top court, the ED said no political leader has ever been granted interim bail for campaigning even if he is not contesting polls.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma allowed Sisodia to withdraw the interim bail applications.
Gahlot says he has no knowledge of Nair living in his official accommodation, AAP's Goa activities
The Enforcement Directorate questioned Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot for about five hours on Saturday and recorded his statement in connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to the Aam Aadmi Party government's now-scrapped excise policy, officials said.
Benoy Babu of Pernod Ricard and Sharath Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma have been arrested under sections of the PMLA.
The federal probe agency also made a fresh arrest in this case as it took into custody Hyderabad-based liquor businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, they said.
The judge noted that following an earlier court order, the official concerned of Rouse Avenue District Courts premises had brought the CCTV footage of May 23 pertaining to production of Sisodia before the court in the case.
With the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy scam case, uncertainty looms over several critical Delhi government projects, including streetscaping and traffic decongestion plans, ahead of the G20 summit.
Delhi deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia has been named as an accused in the case.
The Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that 80 per cent of its leaders were arrested by Delhi police since Sunday, and questioned whether anyone can be detained for more than 24 hours.
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