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He said a level playing field, which is a pre-requisite for ‘free and fair elections’, has clearly been compromised with his illegal arrest.It said the entire basis of Kejriwal’s arrest rests upon certain statements which are in the nature of “self-incriminating confessions” by alleged accomplices who have been given the immunity by way of pardon etc.”Whether such statements could qualify as materials to reach the conclusion of guilt as envisaged under section 19 PMLA to justify the arrest of a sitting chief minister of NCT of Delhi or a national convenor of a national political party in India in the midst of general elections,” it asked.In the rejoinder, Kejriwal alleged the only objective of the ED was to procure and obtain some statement against him and as soon as the statement was taken, the mission of the probe agency was accomplished and thereafter, the co-accused were neither arrested nor any further statements were taken.The AAP leader claimed the malicious intent of the ED in conducting the investigation was apparent from its deliberate concealment of statements made by co-accused individuals where either no allegations were made or allegations were explicitly denied.Kejriwal also said there is no link whatsoever established by the ED to claim that an amount of Rs 45 crore was transferred by the South group as advanced kickback which was then utilised by the AAP in the Goa elections.The chief minister said the ED, in its reply affidavit filed in the apex court, has said that one of the reasons which necessitated his arrest was that he did not remain present before the investigating officer (IO) despite being summoned nine times.In its reply affidavit filed in the apex court earlier this week, the ED has claimed that Kejriwal is the “kingpin and key conspirator” of the excise policy scam and the arrest of a person for an offence based on material can never violate the “concept of free and fair elections”.
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SC to hear Arvind Kejriwal’s plea on April 29
