NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed his response on the ED’s affidavit in the Supreme Court on Saturday and said that the mode, manner, and timing of his arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections had been announced and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) had come into play, spoke volumes about the arbitrariness of the ED.
Kejriwal, in his rejoinder, a copy accessed by this Newspaper, filed in the top court, said that his arrest is a “classic case of how the ruling party led central govt has misused the ED and PMLA to crush its biggest political opponent -Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders”.
"My arrest constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on free and fair elections and federalism, both of which form significant constituents of the basic structure of the Constitution. Being devoid of any cogent reason, ED is now raising frivolous and fictitious grounds for justifying my illegal arrest," Kejriwal said in his reply.
Claiming innocence in the entire Delhi liquor scam case, Kejriwal said there exists no proof or material demonstrating that the AAP received funds or advanced kickbacks from the South group, utilising them in the Goa election campaign.
"Not a single rupee was traced back to the AAP, and the allegations put forth in this regard are devoid of any tangible evidence, rendering them vague, baseless without any corroboration,” Kejriwal’s affidavit said.
During an election cycle when political activity is at its highest, the Petitioner's (Kejriwal’s) illegal arrest has caused grave prejudice to his political party, and will provide the ruling party at the Centre an unjust upper hand in the ongoing elections.
Kejriwal’s appeal is scheduled to be heard by a two-judge bench, led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, on Monday, April 29, in which he had challenged the Delhi HC order of dismissal of his plea of arrest and remand.
A level playing field- which is a pre-requisite for 'free and fair elections'- has clearly been compromised with his illegal arrest, Kejriwal stated in his reply. He had field his reply in the apex court, after the ED filed its response in the case.
He also said that the Central probe agency, illegally 'picked up' a sitting Chief Minister and the National Convenor of one of the 6 national Opposition parties in India on March 21, that is, 5 days after the General Elections were called and the MCC was put in place. His political party is in direct opposition to the ruling political party at the Centre in the on-going General elctions and voting has already commenced from April 17. During an election cycle when political activity is at its highest.
"The approach is a blatant display of tyranny of ED and gives an insight into how it abuse the draconian provisions of PMLA with blatant violations of right to life and liberty, principles of fair trial and fair investigation, due process of law and rule of law," he said.
The ED, which is conducting the probe, is apparent from its deliberate concealment of statements made by co-accused individuals where either no allegations were made or allegations were explicitly denied, he said.
"There is no manner of doubt that the ED has acted in a most highhanded manner in a gross affront to the due process of law. In the instance case, the ED has been opaque and dictatorial in its approach, Kejriwal said.
