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28-03-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI: A court has extended Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal’s custody until Monday in a corruption case.
The Delhi chief minister has denied allegations that he received kickbacks in a now-scrapped alcohol policy.
The ruling comes a day after the US reiterated that it encouraged a “fair” legal process in the case.
He was arrested last week amid criticism from opposition parties that the government was stifling them ahead of the general elections.
Kejriwal was produced in court on Thursday, which had earlier been set as his last day in custody.
He told the court that the case against him was a “political conspiracy” and that there was no concrete evidence to back the claims against him but SV Raju, who represented the Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s financial crimes unit, said that Kejriwal had been “evasive in his replies”.
After the hearing, Kejriwal’s lawyer Ramesh Gupta told reporters that the chief minister had “no objection to being in custody” but that he “opposed the grounds on which his remand is being sought”.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of political vendetta. The BJP denies the allegation, saying it is acting against corruption.
Kejriwal is the third AAP leader to be arrested over the alleged corruption case. An alliance of more than 20 opposition parties have planned a protest rally in Delhi on Sunday against his arrest.
The BJP has alleged that the now-scrapped alcohol policy – which ended the government’s monopoly on liquor sales – gave undue advantages to private retailers.
The ED has accused AAP leaders of receiving kickbacks to be used in state elections. The party denies the allegation.
On Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson, Mathew Miller, reiterated that the US was closely following Kejriwal’s arrest and actions taken against opposition parties in India.
He had made similar remarks on Tuesday as well, which prompted India to summon a senior US diplomat in Delhi to register its protest.
