The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh and the fifth summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his questioning in the Delhi excise policy linked money laundering case, official sources said Wednesday.
The Aam Aadmi Party led by its chief minister designate Atishi staked claim to form a new government in Delhi on Tuesday shortly after Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the post, an effort seen as a bold gambit to seize the initiative ahead of assembly elections due in five months.
Atishi said the directions, received late on Saturday, brought tears to her eyes with Kejriwal showing concern for the people of Delhi despite his own plight.
The Election Commission has said it will allow suspected fake voters to cast their ballots in the Palakkad assembly by-poll, but will take action against them later. The CPI(M), Congress, and BJP have accused each other of enrolling fake voters. The by-poll is scheduled for November 20.
Price of international crude oil - the raw material for making petrol and diesel - dropped to a three-year low before marginally recovering but a revision in domestic petrol and diesel rates is likely only if lower rates are sustained, industry sources and officials said. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell below $70 per barrel on Tuesday - the first time since December 2021 - but gained thereafter after Hurricane Francine hit crude supply in the Gulf of Mexico. Brent rose above $71 a barrel on Thursday while West Texas Intermediate advanced to trade near $68.
The agency had alleged in its earlier charge sheets that at least 36 accused, including former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Kumar, "destroyed, used or changed" 170 phones to conceal evidence of "kickbacks" worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.
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.
The Enforcement Directorate has taken cognisance of Delhi minister Atishi's statement that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sent her directions from the agency's custody to initiate public welfare works related to water and sewerage, official sources said on Sunday.
The car, a Porsche, allegedly driven by the 17-year-old, who the police claim was drunk at the time, fatally knocked down two motorbike-borne software engineers at Kalyani Nagar in Pune city in the early hours of Sunday.
Firecrackers were burst outside the CM's residence after his release from the Tihar Jail on Friday evening. The Aam Aadmi Party workers had gathered to welcome their leader.
The Union government will gain close to Rs 1.6 lakh crore in additional revenues this fiscal from a record hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel that has pushed the total incidence of taxation on auto fuels to 70 per cent of the price. Late on Tuesday evening, the government hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 13 a litre to mop up gains arising from international oil prices falling to a two-decade low.
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 Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday examined Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail and recorded his statement related to the excise policy case.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta referred to a larger bench, preferably of five judges, for in-depth consideration of three questions on the aspect of "need and necessity of arrest" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached properties include 14 assets of Tuteja worth Rs 15.82 crore, 115 properties of Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, worth Rs 116.16 crore, properties of Vikash Agarwal alias Subbu worth Rs 1.54 crore and 33 properties of Arvind Singh worth Rs 12.99 crore, it said in a statement.
The agency opposed Sisodia's bail plea before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who extended the judicial remand of the AAP leader till April 18 after he was produced before the court on the expiry of his custody.
Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the same case and later by the CBI which was probing corruption charges, stepped out after spending 155 days in Tihar jail. The AAP supremo, who was earlier granted three-week interim bail in the ED case, was given a resounding welcome by his party leaders and supporters who were drenched in heavy rain. Addressing party workers from the top of an SUV, Kejriwal, sporting a half-sleeve blue shirt, raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' and 'Vande Mataram' slogans.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been remanded in judicial custody till April 15 in the excise policy case, paced up and down his 14x8 feet cell on his first night in Tihar jail, managing only to sleep for a while, a prison official said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he would resign after two days and sought early polls in the national capital while vowing not to sit in the chief minister's chair till people give him a 'certificate of honesty'.
Kejriwal wanted to know if the RSS agreed with the BJP's politics of using central agencies to break up parties and topple opposition governments, and inducting "corrupt" leaders into its fold.
Ministry of External Affairs officials summoned the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena at its office in South Block in Delhi and lodged a strong protest against a US State Department official's remarks on Kejriwal's arrest.
A Portuguese era law, which transfers the property ownership rights of a man to his wife after his death, has been cited in defence by the owners of a restaurant in Assagao village in North Goa, which the Congress claimed was linked to Union minister Smriti Irani's daughter.
For the first time in history, the luxury car market is poised to cross the sales mark of 50,000 units in 2024, with Mercedes leading the way
The agency may also inform the court about its requirement to confront Kejriwal with other arrested accused and witnesses including Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha, arrested last week, once they get his custody.
A senior excise official said that his department will now seal the bar and seize the stock.
India on Thursday said the United States State Department's recent remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is 'unwarranted' and asserted the country is 'proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions' and committed to protect them from any form of undue external influences.
According to sources, Kavitha was to be made to sit face-to-face with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who was arrested in connection with the liquor policy case on Monday night.
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.
Sisodia is presently lodged in Tihar jail number 1, where he stays in his separate cell shared with two more inmates, who are lodged in non-heinous cases, official sources said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case, on Thursday alleged that the 'actual' excise scam started after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe and not when the policy was made and that the agency's 'two main motives' were to crush his Aam Aadmi Party and to declare it corrupt.
Sources said that the footage was recorded in video-only format during interrogation as the CCTV system did not have audio recording facility at the time. Audio recordings were added to the video capturing system of the ED interrogation process only in October last year, sources said.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights with the Association of Voluntary Action, also known as Bachpan Bachao Andolan, led the crackdown at Som Distillery on Saturday, a release stated.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson had "taken note" of Kejriwal's arrest.
The IAS officer was later taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and is expected to be produced before a magistrate seeking his remand, the sources said.
From the time he first rose to prominence during the movement against the then UPA government, Arvind Kejriwal has regularly grabbed headlines for his surprise moves and decisions. Here are 10 such instances.
The AAP said that the ED should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to Kejriwal.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's unexpected announcement to resign after two days kicked up a strong buzz on Sunday over the names of his wife Sunita and his ministers Atishi and Gopal Rai as his possible replacement.
The Supreme Court on Thursday steered clear of the political talk about it having made an exception for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in granting him interim bail for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls but said 'critical analysis of the judgment is welcome'.
In a digital briefing, she said that Kejriwal, in his message, said even though he is in jail, the two crore people of Delhi, who are his family, should not face any problems.
The opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will hold a 'maha rally' at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31 to safeguard the country's interests and democracy, Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai said on Sunday.
