Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal today appearing before the court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja at Rouse Avenue that was hearing the matter of his custody, argued his case himself, instead of lawyers, and demolished the case of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in just 7 minutes of argument.
After getting permission from the court, he in person presented his case, challenging his arrest.
While addressing the press conference today, AAP Senior Leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi said, “CM Arvind Kejriwal spoke for just 7 minutes, but during these 7 minutes, he clearly explained that how baseless is the case of ED. A sitting chief minister has been arrested without any evidence in this baseless case.”
She added that the court proceedings happen in a closed room in front of judges, lawyers and media people. But it is important that his arguments in this case must reach everyone across the country.
Reading the arguments of Shri Arvind Kejriwal presented before the court, Ms Atishi stated, “This case has been going on for the past nearly two years. The first case by the CBI was filed on August 17, 2022, and the second case by the PIL was filed on August 22, 2022. I have been arrested. Neither has any court found me guilty nor has any case been filed against me. Neither any charges have been framed against me nor have any allegations been made against me.”
Presenting his case in the court, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “So far, the CBI has filed 31,000 pages in court and examined 294 witnesses. The ED has examined 162 witnesses and filed 25,000 pages. Why have I been arrested when all these witnesses and documents are available? My name appears directly in only 4 statements. I want permission to present it before you.”
The Delhi Chief Minister further argued, “My name appears in four places. First, in the statement of C Aravind who was the secretary of Shri Manish Sisodia. He stated that one day, in my presence at my home, Manish Sisodia handed him some excise documents. He did not say that any money was given, no such allegation even for a month. Ma’am, many legislators, ministers, and officials come to my house, their secretaries come, and they interact with each other, and exchange documents. How would I know who is giving what to whom? Is this statement enough to arrest the current Chief Minister?”
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said Magunta Srinivas Reddy (MSR) was a Member of Parliament from the Jagat Reddy’s party. MSR came to my office one day on March 16, 2021, at 4:30. Ten days before this, he had written me a letter stating that he is an MP and wants to meet the Chief Minister. A meeting time was given to him from my office 10 days later. He came to meet me at 4:30. I was in a hurry for some reason, so he said to me that he needs to open his family charitable trust in Delhi, and for that, he needs land. We told him that the land does not come under us, it comes under the LG. He can give me a letter; I will get this letter delivered to the LG. A raid was conducted at his house on September 16, 2022. He was asked if he met Arvind Kejriwal. He said yes, I met him and I went to Kejriwal to ask for land for my family trust. This is mentioned in Section 17 on September 16, 2022. Five months later, on February 10, his son was arrested. Despite that, he stood by his statement. When his son was kept in custody for five months, he broke down. On July 16, his father changed his statement. On July 16, he changed his statement and on July 18, his son was released. After that, he did not give any statement. Statements were being made one after another until he did not give a statement against me. As soon as he gave a statement against me, his son was released, statements also stopped, and on October 3, his pardon was also granted. Mission accomplished.”
Shri Kejriwal said before the court that it means that the sole purpose of the ED was just to frame me, Section 50’s three statements are there. “All three are equal. Why was the attention given to only one statement? Are the other two statements wrong? Out of the 25,000 pages filed by the ED, only the statement against Kejriwal has been presented. The other two statements have been suppressed. Why is it so? Am I wrong? All three statements should have been presented before the court so that the court can decide what the truth is,” he argued.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal told the court that the third statement is of his son. “On September 16, a raid is conducted at Raghav Magunta’s house and a statement is taken. On February 10, he was arrested. After that, his son is taken in for questioning, and five statements are taken from him. In those statements, he says the same thing as before. He stays in jail for five months. Then, on July 16, when his father changes his statement, he is released on July 18. Seven statements were taken from him, in six of which he does not speak against me, and in the seventh, as soon as he speaks against me, he does not give any statement thereafter. He is released from jail. He is given bail. These six statements are not attached to the records.”
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said the fourth statement is that of Sharath Reddy. “A raid was conducted at his place on September 16. He did not say anything against me. On November 9, he did not say anything against me. He was arrested on November 10, and after that, nine statements were recorded from him in which he did not speak against me. After being arrested for six months, he broke down on April 25 and only says that he went to CM Sahab with Vijay Nair. The CM was in a hurry, so he said to stay in touch with Vijay, as Vijay is a good boy,” he said.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal argued that he just wants to know if these four statements are enough to arrest the sitting Chief Minister?
The Delhi Chief Minister further said that 30,000 pages have been filed in the case. “Apart from these 30,000 pages, there are one lakh pages lying in the ED’s office, which are evidence of our innocence, but have not been brought before the court,” he said in the court.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “Where the money is from the liquor scam ultimately. Allegations are being made that a South lobby gave 100 crore rupees to the Aam Aadmi Party to formulate liquor policy. This is Justice Sanjeev Khanna’s order, stated in paragraph 12 of page 22, that the matter of a 100 crore rupees bribe is worthy of debate. This means that the bribery case is doubtful. There is not enough evidence for it,” he said.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said the real liquor scam starts after the ED investigation begins. When the ED investigation began. The ED had two purposes for the investigation. The first purpose was to crush the Aam Aadmi Party. To prove the Aam Aadmi Party is corrupt. To spread the word that the Aam Aadmi Party was involved in the liquor scam. The second purpose of the ED was to run an extortion racket behind it, through which they collected money.
The Delhi Chief Minister said Sharath Reddy was granted bail in the case for two reasons. “Firstly, Sharad Reddy gave a statement against me, and after his arrest, he donated 55 crore rupees to the BJP. After his arrest, Sharad Reddy purchased electoral bonds worth 55 crore rupees, and then he was granted bail. This proves the existence of a money trail. After his arrest, he gave Rs 55 crore to the BJP as donation. This money went directly into the BJP’s account. This proved the existence of a money trail. This was the entire purpose of the investigation, to crush the Aam Aadmi Party on one hand, create a smokescreen, and extort from behind,” said Shri Arvind Kejriwal in the court.
AAP leader Atishi said, “This statement clearly proves that CM Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested on the basis of four such statements which are baseless and forcefully taken. Today, by presenting all his statements before the court, Arvind Kejriwal has exposed the complete case of the ED. By putting forward his statements, he has proved that the real meaning of ED is Extortion Directorate.”
She added that the ED is being used to extort money. The real liquor scam started after the ED investigation began, when the ED extorted money from liquor businessmen in the name of investigating this liquor scam.
