Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, was allegedly paid by Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly accepted and handled illicit funds for the AAP’s campaign, to stay in a seven-star hotel in Goa during the state’s assembly elections in 2022. This information was presented to the Supreme Court by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday.
During Arvind Kejriwal’s bail hearing in the Supreme Court, ASG SV Raju represented the Enforcement Directorate and asserted that not a single statement made during the investigation cleared the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The agency informed the judge that there was no political motivation for the liquor policy case.
“We are not concerned with politics, we are concerned with evidence and we have it,” he added, reported ANI.
Raju, defending Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest and opposing his bail, claimed the latter had stayed in Goa’s Grand Hyatt hotel.
“We have proof that hotel expenses of Arvind Kejriwal during Goa elections…it was a 7-star Grand Hyatt hotel in Goa,” he claimed.
The agency claimed it has evidence to prove Arvind Kejriwal had demanded ₹100 crore as kickbacks from businessmen to formulate a liquor policy favourable to the latter’s interests.
The lawyer said, initially, the agency was not focused on Arvind Kejriwal’s alleged role. It claimed the Delhi chief minister’s alleged role became clearer when the probe progressed.
Earlier, the bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, questioned the Enforcement Directorate over Kejriwal’s attorney’s argument that the latter wasn’t the prime focus of the probe and the question of kickbacks came to fore later.
Justice Khanna also observed that it was not good for any investigating agency that it took two years to probe a case.
“The only issue that arises is that why the investigation took so long and why the questions were not asked,” the court asked.
The Enforcement Directorate’s lawyer later replied that the investigating officers work as per their own speed.
Arvind Kejriwal has been in jail since March 21, in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the Delhi excise policy case.
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