There are apprehensions that Kejriwal will be arrested by ED on Nov 2: Atishi
New Delhi (PTI): The AAP on Tuesday claimed there are apprehensions that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 2 after questioning him in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.
The ruling party in Delhi also alleged that the BJP was trying to finish it off by putting its top leaders behind bars.
Kejriwal has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and according to sources, the ED will record his statement once he deposes at the probe agency's Delhi office at 11 am on November 2.
This is the first time that Kejriwal has been summoned by the ED. He was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case in April.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi claimed the BJP was using these tactics to target the AAP as it knows that it cannot defeat Kejriwal in elections.
"According to various sources, the ED will also arrest Arvind Kejriwal and put him in jail on November 2. Today, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi want to eliminate the Aam Aadmi Party. This is why, one after another, AAP leaders are being arrested in false cases and sent to jail," she said.
Atishi said Kejriwal will be arrested not because there is any case or evidence against him but because he has spoken out against the BJP.
"He will be arrested only because Prime Minister Modi is afraid of him. They know that if there is one leader in this country who openly speaks against the BJP and fights against the party, it is Arvind Kejriwal. Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, he has been most troubled by one person and that is Arvind Kejriwal," she said.
In 2015, the BJP had been winning one state election after another but Kejriwal managed to confine the BJP to just three seats in Delhi, while the AAP won 67 of the 70 seats, she said.
In 2020 again, Atishi said, the BJP put all its efforts into the Delhi elections, fielding its leaders and creating a charged atmosphere across the country.
"However, the people of Delhi showed their love for their son Arvind Kejriwal and made him the chief minister of Delhi once more.
"When the MCD elections came, the BJP knew that the people of Delhi would elect Arvind Kejriwal and throw the BJP out of the MCD. They delayed the MCD elections, imposed restrictions and conducted elections along with the Gujarat elections. However, despite all this, the people of Delhi still elected Arvind Kejriwal in the MCD elections," she said.
Referring to the arrest of the AAP's top leaders, including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain, Atishi claimed it only means that the BJP wants to "finish off the AAP".
Jain has been granted interim bail in a money laundering case.
"After Kejriwal is arrested, the BJP will target other leaders of the INDIA alliance and its chief ministers using the CBI and the ED.
"Next they will target Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren since they have been unable to defeat him. Then they will target Tejashwi Yadav since they have not been able to break the alliance in Bihar. Then Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will be targeted," Atishi claimed.
"I want to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party are not afraid of going to jail nor are they afraid of false cases. They will fight till the last breath to protect the Constitution of this country," she said.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj echoed Atishi's views and asserted the party has only grown stronger in the face of opposition.
"The BJP fears Kejriwal's popularity and honesty. Every time an attempt is made to end the AAP, it emerges stronger with double force.
"In the history of independent India, the AAP has been the most preyed upon party by the Centre. Approximately, 170 fabricated cases have been registered against the AAP and its leaders. Forty-eight of these fabricated cases are registered against Sanjay Singh alone by the Uttar Pradesh government and the BJP's other governments. Dozens of cases have also been registered against Kejriwal," he claimed.
Addressing a press conference, the AAP's Delhi state convener Gopal Rai said the AAP will keep working for the common man.
"Liquor policy is just an excuse. The BJP's goal is to eliminate the AAP. If it were only about the liquor policy, there wouldn't have been CBI raids at CM's office before and the Shunglu Committee wouldn't have scrutinised every single file. In the liquor policy case, even the CBI had called Arvind Kejriwal and he answered all their questions," he added.
Rai also said the BJP's ouster is certain in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"I want to tell the people of Delhi that we will confront their tyranny head-on and continue development work in Delhi," he said.
AAP MLA Dilip Pandey said they are disciples of Bhagat Singh and are ready to sacrifice their lives but will not bow before the BJP.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
