New Delhi
Contesting the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea opposing bail to him in a case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday told the High Court here that the Central probe agency implicated him in a “false and concocted story” and there was no material in its possession on the basis of which further incarceration could be justified.
Mr. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 on money laundering charges and subsequently by the Central Bureau of Investigation on June 26 in a corruption case linked to the excise policy.
The High Court had stayed the bail granted to him by a trial court on June 20 after the ED approached it.
‘Victim of witch-hunt’
In a 130-page reply, the CM said he has been “a victim of witch-hunt” by the agency that “pressured” and “induced” the other co-accused to depose against him in lieu of “not objecting” to their bail.
Mr. Kejriwal said the bail order passed by the trial court “was not only well reasoned but prima facie showed a due application of mind” and the arrest was “illegally made just to harass and humiliate a political opponent”.
“The discretionary orders of bail cannot be set aside merely on perceptions and fanciful imagination of the prosecution. Therefore, to cancel the order would tantamount to grave miscarriage of justice,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
He said during the period of ED custody from March 22 to April 1, “nothing specific/relevant with the ongoing investigation was investigated by the investigating officer and the arrest is illegally made just to harass and humiliate a political opponent”.
The Chief Minister said there is no material in possession of the ED on the basis of which his further incarceration could be justified.
The High Court listed the matter for further hearing on July 15.