Members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi Assembly are scheduled to meet Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of the incarcerated Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the national capital on Tuesday, as per party sources. The AAP leaders will convene at the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal shortly.
Since Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in connection with an alleged liquor scam-linked money laundering case, Sunita Kejriwal has been conducting digital briefings similar to those previously conducted by her husband before his arrest.
Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi stated today that Arvind Kejriwal, who has been remanded to judicial custody till April 15 and is lodged in Tihar Jail, has not been convicted in the case and will continue to serve as chief minister.
“The Representation of the People Act stipulates that if you are convicted for more than two years, you cannot remain a public representative. Arvind Kejriwal has not been convicted… Arvind Kejriwal enjoys overwhelming support in the Delhi Assembly, so there is no reason for him to resign. If he resigns, it will be a simple solution for the Bharatiya Janata Party to topple opposition governments,” Atishi remarked.
In her first public appearance since her husband’s arrest by the ED, Sunita Kejriwal delivered a message from Arvind Kejriwal to the nation from ED custody on Sunday. It included six guarantees to the country, on behalf of the INDIA bloc, aimed at creating “a new India.”
Arvind Kejriwal was taken to jail on Monday afternoon after the conclusion of his Enforcement Directorate custodial remand. The ED labeled the Delhi Chief Minister as the “kingpin” in the alleged scam, stating that he had provided “evasive replies” and concealed information relevant to the investigation.
The case originated from a report submitted by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, highlighting alleged procedural lapses in the policy formulation. The report indicated that decisions made by Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as Excise Minister had led to “financial losses to the exchequer” estimated at over Rs 580 crore.
This report was forwarded to the CBI and resulted in Sisodia’s arrest. The ED alleged that the “scam” involved granting the wholesale liquor business to private entities and fixing a 12 percent margin, for a 6 percent kickback. In its initial prosecution complaint in November 2021, the ED claimed the policy was “formulated with deliberate loopholes” to benefit AAP leaders through “backdoor” cartel formations.
Additionally, the ED alleged that AAP leaders received kickbacks amounting to Rs 100 crore from a group of individuals identified as the “South Group.”