Arvind Kejriwal moves HC against arrest in excise policy case
New Delhi, Mar 23: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday moved the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Sources in his Aam Aadmi Party said his legal team would request the high court to hear the matter urgently, preferably on Sunday.
On Friday, a trial court had remanded him in ED's custody till March 28 "for his detailed and sustained interrogation".
In his plea, Kejriwal, who was apprehended by the ED on Friday night, contended that his arrest and remand were illegal and that he was entitled to be released from custody immediately.
The ED had arrested Kejriwal hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the central anti-money laundering agency.
Kejriwal had approached the high court for quashing and setting aside all proceedings including the summonses issued against him.
In that petition, Kejriwal said he is a "vocal critic" of the ruling party, an opposition leader and a partner in the INDIA bloc, and the ED, being under the Centre's control, has been "weaponised".
The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped.
Top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case.
Kejriwal's name has been mentioned multiple times in the charge sheets filed by the ED.
The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they paid kickbacks to the AAP.
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Udupi: Two men from Belthangady awarded life imprisonment for attempt to murder a woman in 2022
Udupi: Two men from Belthangady have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Udupi for attempting to murder a woman in Manchikumeri in 2022.
The sentenced men, Mithun and Nagesh Poojary, are learned to have attempted to murder Sumathi, wife of Ramanath Rai, a resident of Manchikumeri, who had a Nandini Milk Parlour at Tiger Circle, Manipal.
On February 18, 2022, Sumathi was reportedly alone at home when, at around 7 pm, Mithun, learned to be her nephew, and his friend Poojary came to the house. As Sumathi opened the door, the duo barged in and tried to strangulate her with an intention of murdering her. Sumathi reportedly lost consciousness under the attack.
The men packed her body in a sack and were then putting the sack into a suitcase to carry the body out, when they noticed that Rai and neighbours had arrived. They are learned to have opened the door when Rai knocked the door and then tried to escape. They were, however, caught by the neighbours and handed over to the police.
Further, Sumathi was found by the group in an unconscious state inside the suitcase in the house. She was rushed to the Manipal Hospital and learned to have recovered after a week of medical treatment.
A case had been registered at the Manipal Police Station.
The Udupi Principal District and Sessions Court judge Kiran S Gangannavar, who heard the case, has declared both Mithun and Poojary guilty in the case. He has awarded them life imprisonment, fined them Rs 20,000 each and, under Column 325, sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment of 5 years and fined them Rs 5,000 each.
Judge Gangannavar has directed that, of the fine, Rs 45,000 be handed to the attack victim Sumathi as relief.
Jayarama Shetty represented the government as Public Prosecutor.
