ED Cleared to Prosecute Arvind Kejriwal Ahead of Delhi Election
Former Delhi Chief Minister Previously Arrested Prior to 2024 General Election
January 15, 2025
Screenshot from Facebook
Weeks before the assembly elections in Delhi, the Union Home Ministry has reportedly granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permission to prosecute former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over alleged irregularities in his administration’s excise policy. Is the timing of this move merely coincidental? Kejriwal, who is currently on bail, was previously arrested in the lead-up to the 2024 general election.
The allegations against Kejriwal are tied to Delhi’s now-revoked 2021-22 excise policy. He is accused of overseeing a scheme that manipulated policy decisions to benefit certain liquor vendors, allegedly directing a significant portion of the illicit funds—450 million rupees from an overall 1 billion rupees in kickbacks—to finance his party’s campaign activities in Goa. These charges are part of a larger investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering involving Kejriwal and other associates within his administration.
Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena granted the ED permission in the final weeks of the ongoing probe. The framing of charges in a Delhi court was pending because it lacked the necessary clearance, which, according to a November 2024 Supreme Court ruling, is required in case of a public official.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21, 2024. The ED subsequently charged him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act he Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in its May 17 filings. He was in custody until Sept. 13, 2024, except for an interim bail period from May 10 to June 1, 2024, which was granted by the Supreme Court to allow him to campaign for the 2024 general election.
Kejriwal has denied any wrongdoing.
The ED took cognisance of a First Information Report (FIR) registered against Kejriwal and others by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Aug. 17, 2022. Five days later, on Aug. 22, 2022, the ED filed its case. The ED arrested Kejriwal, who was then the serving Chief Minister, two years later and shortly before the general election, in March 2024.
In April 2024, the Supreme Court had asked the ED about the notable delays between the initiation of proceedings against Kejriwal and his eventual arrest, probing the rationale and legality behind the sequence of events leading to his detention.
The 2025 Delhi Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on Feb. 5, with the results set to be announced on Feb. 8. The elections will see the participation of the major political parties including Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress, each vying for seats in the 70-constituency assembly.
An AAP spokesperson, Priyanka Kakkar, told ANI: “This will be the first such case in the history of the country where you jailed Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. Both were granted bail from the trial court and even from the Supreme Court...After 2 years, you gave sanction to prosecute and this is when the elections are near. Their same old routine is to file false cases, defame the leaders of Aam Aadmi Party. But now the public has understood everything.”
