NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till March 28, will be grilled by the central probe agency in connection with the excise policy case on Saturday. As mandated by the court, the AAP chief will be interrogated on camera. Kejriwal was on Friday remanded to the ED custody. The order was passed late Friday by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court, hours after the Delhi Chief Minister withdrew a Supreme Court plea challenging his arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam case.

The central agency had sought custody of Kejriwal for 10 days, stating it needed time to complete its investigation and confront the Aam Aadmi Party leader with other arrested accused in the case. In Friday’s hearing, the agency called Arvind Kejriwal the “kingpin” and “key conspirator” in the alleged scam, and in a claim seen by many as contradictory, also called him the “middleman” between the ‘south group’ and other accused, including ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia (arrested last year).

Total proceeds of the alleged scam, the agency said, exceeded ₹ 600 crore; this includes Rs 100 crore allegedly paid by the ‘south group’ the agency has claimed includes Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, who was arrested last week.

Kejriwal – the first sitting Chief Minister to be arrested, spent the night at the agency’s office – has denied all charges. The AAP has repeatedly stated the ED has yet to recover any of the alleged cash

In his first reaction since the arrest, Kejriwal told reporters “my life is dedicated to the nation”. Shortly afterwards his wife, Sunita Kejriwal posted an appeal on X (formerly Twitter). “Your Chief Minister always stood with you.. whether inside or outside (jail), his life is dedicated to the country,’ she said.

Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Vikram Chaudhari, and Ramesh Gupta along with Advocates Rajat Bharadwaj, Mudit Jain and Mohd Irshad appeared for the Delhi CM Kejriwal.

ASG SV Raju and Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain appeared for the probe agency.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.

“ED was asking for a 10-day remand. They said that to trace the money trail, a custodial investigation is necessary. Considering all aspects, the judge gave a 6-day custodial remand. He will be presented here again on 28 March. ED argued that the money used for the Goa elections was ill-gotten. They said they have statements of some witnesses which prove this fact.” Arvind Kejriwal’s lawyer Madan Lal told reporters.

After the court’s decision, Atishi said that the party would explore all possible legal routes for further actions.

“We, very respectfully and humbly disagree with the decision of the court. ED has no proof even after 2 years of investigation… ED forced their witnesses to give statements against Arvind Kejriwal… We will explore all possible legal routes… One by one opposition parties are being targeted in front of the judiciary… Arvind Kejriwal will always be the CM of Delhi. There is no Constitutional bar on him not being the CM. He has not been convicted till now,” she said.

Terming the day as a “dark” one, Atishi further said that the ‘democracy in the country has been murdered today’.

“BJP wants to contest elections from behind the ED… Is ED a part of the BJP that the party is issuing their press release? To date, no proceeds of crime have been found by the ED against the AAP leaders… Today is a dark day in the history of democracy of the country. People of the country are seeing this murder of democracy which has been done today,” she added.

The arrest by the central agency has drawn severe criticism for the BJP-led centre from the opposition leaders.

Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot, while questioning the action by the federal agency said, “We met the family of Arvind Kejriwal after much delay… We have been saying from the very beginning that this case is false and the only motive is to stop Arvind Kejriwal. What recovery has been made by the ED till now?… It is the party’s stand that the CM should not resign. The government will be run from wherever the CM is. We have no problem with this and no law says he should resign…”

AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the ‘countdown of the Central government has begun on 21 March’ with the arrest of Delhi CM.

“… It is Arvind Kejriwal today, it can be someone else tomorrow. This government will spare no one… The world is supporting Arvind Kejriwal. And when things like this happen at a global scale, revolutions happen and governments are overturned. The countdown of the Central government has begun on 21 March… BJP supporters are also coming to us and saying, all was fine till now, but this has become a little too much,” he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav voiced criticism of the arrest of Kejriwal, alleging that government institutions like ED, CBI, and income tax work as instruments for the government.

“These are government institutions, they’ll do what the government wants. This raises the question of whether in a democracy, institutions operate as instruments and are working as instruments to please the BJP. They are creating false cases to make records globally. They are not only making records globally but also creating records of false cases. The BJP is setting records in creating false cases worldwide,” said Akhilesh Yadav.

Terming Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest “unethical and wrong,” Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Friday that he had never seen such an action against an elected Chief Minister.

“I have never seen such an action on an elected CM. When the Model Code of Conduct is implemented in the country, going to arrest a CM at night, has been opposed by all. This is very unethical and wrong. The Election Commission should intervene in this matter,” Pilot said.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief and former Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao, whose daughter K Kavitha is also in ED custody in the same case called Kejriwal’s arrest a “dark day” in Indian democracy.

“The arrest of Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is a dark day in the history of democracy of the country,” said a press statement by KCR.

Raising slogans “Arvind tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain” and “tyranny won’t last”, hundreds of AAP leaders and workers on Friday hit the streets to protest against the BJP over Kejriwal’s arrest, with AAP ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and others being detained earlier in the day.

Several protestors were bundled into buses as they gathered at the ITO intersection around 10.30 am to proceed towards the BJP office on the DDU Marg. Paramilitary personnel in anti-riot gear were also deployed to maintain law and order.

INDIA bloc leaders on Friday met the Election Commission against Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest and the alleged targeting of Opposition leaders across the country ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

The letter submitted to the poll body by INDIA on Friday asserted that “arrests, of individuals holding Constitutional posts are clearly intended to have a stifling and deleterious effect on the democratic functioning of the affairs of their respective states, as well as the parties themselves”.

The letter further read, “It is a move that is deliberately designed to demotivate and demoralise the members of these parties and the opposition at large. These arrested individuals, one of whom is the National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, and the other is the Working President of Jharkhand, Mukti Morcha, are elected leaders of our country who have championed the cause of those on the margins of our society, including our brothers and sisters belonging to the tribal communities.”

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested Thursday evening hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest. A team of 12 officials rushed to his residence, where they questioned him, seized documents and other materials, and then, at 9 pm, arrested the three-time Chief Minister.

Kejriwal has been arrested in the Delhi liquor policy scam case; the central agency has accused the AAP leader of being a “conspirator”. The ED believes the now-scrapped policy provided an impossibly high profit margin of nearly 185 per cent for retailers and 12 per cent for wholesalers.

Of the latter, six per cent was to be recovered by the AAP as bribes, which amounted to over Rs 600 crore. Nearly a third of this, the ED has alleged, was paid by a ‘south group’ that included BRS leader K Kavitha. These proceeds were then allegedly used by the AAP for election campaign expenses.

Apart from Kejriwal, two prominent AAP leaders – Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia – have also been arrested in connection with this case. Mr Singh was arrested on October 5 and Mr Sisodia over a year ago – on February 26. Neither has received any relief from the top court, underlining how likely it is that Mr Kejriwal too will not get any help.