As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
Special Judge M K Nagpal, who had dismissed Sisodia's bail application on Friday saying he was 'prima facie the architect' and played the 'most important and vital role' in the alleged scam, extended his custody after he was produced before the court.
A Delhi court on Monday sent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15, noting the Enforcement Directorate's contention that his release could hamper the investigation into the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.
'It could backfire on the BJP and boost the Opposition parties.'
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday claimed before a Delhi court that Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was involved in "large scale destruction of digital evidence to impede investigation" into the Delhi excise policy case and had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
The two ministers were lodged in a police bus as officials asked protesters at the ITO intersection, which is near the AAP and BJP offices, to disperse in view of prohibitory orders under section 144 imposed in the area.
The Delhi high court will pronounce on Tuesday its verdict on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate seeking a stay on the trial court order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam.
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.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the deletion of advocate Bansuri Swaraj's name from its order of granting bail to AAP leader Sanjay Singh after the Enforcement Directorate said her name got added to the list due to an "inadvertent error".
'This is the biggest crisis Kejriwal is facing in his life.' 'If he is able to come out of this, then he will have a great future.'
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that Sisodia would be arrested on Monday and alleged the move was initiated in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in Gujarat where it is in a direct contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Sisodia's reaction came after the BJP shared the purported sting to claim that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi framed its excise policy to help a select few and used the money earned through alleged corruption to fund its campaign in Goa and Punjab assembly polls.
The police also moved an application seeking court's permission to produce Sisodia only via video conference, after he levelled the allegation.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) faced criticism from the Supreme Court for filing a "half-baked" reply in a bail matter related to the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, questioning the accountability of the ED and its advocate-on-record. The ED's additional solicitor general, S.V. Raju, attributed the error to a miscommunication and assured the court that a departmental inquiry would be initiated.
Justice Khanna was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi high court in 2005 and was made a permanent judge in 2006. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019.
Observing that the petitioner was "making a mockery of the system", the court said, "Rs 50,000 costs on you. We will pass the order."
He also asserted that no one can take the place of Kejriwal in the AAP.
The Aam Aadmi Party has called his arrest a "political conspiracy" to stop him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls.
The AAP unanimously agreed to elect Atishi as the leader of Delhi AAP Legislative Party.
The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed the bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, who was arrested for his alleged role in the money laundering case relating to alleged irregularities in the city government's excise policy.
A court in New Delhi on Friday extended by five days the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia who has been arrested in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy.
Kejriwal's remarks come at a time he has been asked to join the Delhi Police probe into his allegations that the BJP attempted to 'poach' AAP MLAs and is facing summons from the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy linked money laundering case.
With his three-week temporary bail for poll campaign ending, Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be back in Tihar Jail on Sunday as a court here put off till June 5 its order on his plea seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
Addressing a press conference a day after the CBI raid against him, Sisodia expressed apprehension that the agency or the Enforcement Directorate (ED) may arrest him in the next 3-4 days, while Chief Minister Kejriwal, who has been aggressively taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party in Modi's home state, announced on Twitter that he will be touring Gujarat with Sisodia from Monday.
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.
Kejriwal was issued the ED summons last week for the fourth time after he skipped summons thrice earlier.
Special judge Kaveri Baweja directed the Tihar jail authorities to take care of his medical needs in judicial custody.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
The CBI had on Sunday deferred his questioning after he sought time from the agency citing the Delhi government's ongoing budget exercise.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 52 crore of arrested AAP leader Manish Sisodia, his wife and some other accused in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.
The Delhi Police, however, said the security around the CM house was beefed up to "manage" mediapersons who have gathered there since Wednesday after party leaders claimed that Kejriwal would be raided and arrested.
The government has no say in where the country's refiners source oil from because these are commercial transactions.
The AAP national general secretary (organisation) said Kejriwal asked him to convey to the party MLAs to go door to door in their areas and meet people to understand their concerns.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson had "taken note" of Kejriwal's arrest.
'I thought AAP will uphold administrative fairness which is not there. And it is an indication of the fact that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely'
The move came hours after Justice Khanna had told Singhvi that Kejriwal's petition against his arrest would be heard by a three-judge bench during the day.
A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the world body 'hopes' that in India and any country that is having elections, people's 'political and civil rights' are 'protected' and everyone is able to vote in a 'free and fair' atmosphere.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was sent to Tihar Jail after a court remanded him in judicial custody in the excise policy case, is spending most of his time meditating, reading books and doing yoga in his cell, sources said on Thursday.
The ED also alleged that Kejriwal, during his questioning, said AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair 'did not report to him' but to his cabinet colleagues Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj and that his interaction with Nair was 'limited'.
Sisodia said the growing enthusiasm among the people of Gujarat in supporting the AAP in Gujarat was the reason behind the CBI action against him.
