NEW DELHI: Just prior to the upcoming national elections in India, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of New Delhi, was arrested on Thursday in connection with an alleged liquor policy scandal.
According to reports from Indian media, Kejriwal’s arrest marks the first instance of a sitting chief minister being apprehended in India’s history.
A team consisting of 12 members from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained Delhi CM Kejriwal at his residence in Civil Lines, North Delhi, on Thursday evening.
The ED team initiated questioning at his residence after the Delhi High Court declined to grant the CM protection from coercive measures in the excise policy case earlier on Thursday, as reported by media sources.
This arrest signifies the incarceration of the key figures of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been in existence for a decade, following the arrests last year of two of Kejriwal’s deputies in the same case, labeled by the party as “dirty politics.”
The Enforcement Directorate, a financial crime agency, is probing allegations regarding a liquor policy enacted by the Delhi government in 2022, which relinquished its control over liquor sales in the capital, allegedly providing undue advantages to private retailers. The policy was subsequently revoked.
Atishi, an AAP lawmaker from Delhi, took to social media stating that the party is endeavoring to nullify the recent arrest. She remarked, “We have requested an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court tonight itself.”
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
