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Incumbent Electoral Performance Legislative Assembly Media Activism
Controversies Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video |
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Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, India, was arrested on 21 March 2024 around 09:00 pm IST after not responding to nine summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi liquor scam, becoming the first sitting chief minister in Indian history to be arrested.[1][2][3] He was given interim bail by the Supreme Court of India from 10 May 2024 to 1 June 2024 to campaign for 2024 Indian general election.[4][5] Kejriwal surrendered at the Tihar Jail on 2 June 2024 after the expiration of this bail.[6] A Delhi trial court granted bail to Kejriwal on 20 June but the bail was stayed by the Delhi High Court on 21 May before could be released.[7]
Further information: Delhi liquor scam |
In June 2022, a batch of complaints alleging a “multi-crore scam” in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, one of which was filed with the Delhi Police by former Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar Chaudhary.[8] Kejriwal and his allies had been accused by political rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of selling liquor licences and receiving kickbacks from private vendors. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged that it had evidence of AAP receiving millions of dollars from a liquor group.[9] Several high-ranking members of the AAP had previously been arrested in connection with the scam, including Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia in March 2023.[10]
Kejriwal received nine summons from the ED for the investigation of the scam.[11] Kejriwal skipped all of the Ed summons and was arrested on 21 March 2024 following a raid on his home by the Enforcement Directorate. As he was being taken away, supporters and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers were protesting outside his residence.[12][13] AAP leaders alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party collected protection money of worth 60 crore in the form of Electoral Bonds from the alleged liquor Scam kingpin Sarath Chandra Reddy's Aurobindo Pharma Limited per a report who later became an approver.[14] Kejriwal was remanded until 28 March 2024, and remained in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).[15] The Delhi High Court dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's petition against his arrest.[16][17][18][19][20]
On 10 May, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail on the case till 1 June 2024 in view of campaigning for 2024 Indian general election.[21][22] Kejriwal surrendered at the Tihar Jail on 2 June 2024 after the expiration of this bail.[6] A Delhi trial court granted bail to Kejriwal on 20 June but the bail was stayed by the Delhi High Court on 21 May before could be released.[7]
The arrest caused numerous protests in Delhi on 26 March 2024, with AAP supporters marching to the Prime Minister's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg while BJP supporters demanding Kejriwal's resignation marched to the Secretariat Building, New Delhi.[15]
Delhi Cabinet Minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigned as minister of social welfare and also tendered his resignation from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He said that did not want his name to be associated with “corruption” after Delhi High Court's rejection of Kejriwal's bail.[23]
Prominent opposition leaders have voiced strong opposition to Kejriwal's arrest, framing it as part of a broader authoritarian trend under the current government. Rahul Gandhi, for instance, described the government's actions as those of a "scared dictator" aiming to create a "dead democracy."[24][25]