On Monday, the Delhi High Court scheduled Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging summonses from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the excise policy case for a hearing on May 15.
A bench comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain provided a two-week window for the petitioner's side to submit a rejoinder to the ED's filed reply affidavit.
During a brief interaction, the probe agency contended that CM Kejriwal's petition had become irrelevant as he had already been apprehended in the money laundering case. The agency highlighted that CM Kejriwal's earlier plea contesting his arrest was dismissed by a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court, with his appeal currently awaiting consideration by the Supreme Court.
In response, the Chief Minister's counsel argued that the initial actions of the agency did not comply with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They expressed the intention to present rejoinder arguments addressing the ED's objections regarding the admissibility of the petition.
Consequently, the court allowed two weeks for the submission of a counter affidavit and scheduled the next hearing for May 15.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 following the Delhi High Court's refusal to grant him interim protection against coercive measures by the central agency, which had issued multiple summonses.
Previously, the Delhi High Court had instructed the ED to respond to the admissibility of Kejriwal's plea challenging the nine summonses issued to him, setting the matter for a hearing on April 22.
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