Delhi High Court to hear Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging ED arrest, remand today

Arvind Kejriwal moved the Delhi High Court last week with his plea. However, according to sources, the matter was unlikely to be heard before Wednesday, when the court reopens after the Holi vacation.

The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him interim protection “at this stage” from coercive action. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are already in judicial custody in the matter.

In his earlier application before the high court, Kejriwal sought an interim order directing the ED not to take any coercive process against him and to stay the summons issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“The main petition filed by the petitioner (Kejriwal) was listed yesterday, i.e., on 20.03.2024 when the respondent (ED) had taken objection about its maintainability, and the petition was directed to be listed on 22.04.2024. The present application has been filed in the interregnum. We have heard arguments on the present application from both sides at length. However, at this stage, we are not inclined to grant any interim relief to the applicant/petitioner,” a division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain said in its March 21 order while hearing the earlier application.

The application was filed in Kejriwal’s main writ petition, challenging the summonses issued to him by the ED and the validity and interpretation of certain provisions of the PMLA.