HC asks ED to submit its note on the plea against CM Arvind Kejriwal passing orders while in custody

Arvind Kejriwal. File pic

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit its note to the special judge on the issue of the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal passing orders while in custody, reported PTI.

The court also disposed of a public interest litigation seeking directions to prevent Kejriwal from issuing orders in his capacity as the chief minister while in ED custody, contending that it was against the legal framework, the report said.

The Aam Aadmi Party national convener, Kejriwal who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the ED custody by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of the excise policy favouring specific individuals.

Kejriwal was on Monday sent to judicial custody by the trial court till April 15. His petition challenging his arrest is scheduled to be heard by the high court on April 3.

Meanwhile in another development from Mumbai, the Bombay High Court on Monday said no coercive steps shall be taken against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede till April 10 on notices issued to him on the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) preliminary inquiry over irregularities in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

After Rajput allegedly committed suicide at his residence in Mumbai in June 2020, the NCB initiated a probe of alleged drug use in the film industry. The agency later lodged a case of alleged possession, consumption and financing of drugs against Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and 33 others.

As per PTI report, from November 2023 to March 2024, the NCB issued eight notices to Wankhede, directing him to appear before the agency's director general Sanjay Singh. Wankhede filed a petition in the HC last week challenging the inquiry and the notices issued to him, claiming he was being targeted and the inquiry was an 'act of vengeance'.

A division bench headed by Justice Revati Mohite Dere on Monday directed the NCB to respond to the plea by April 10. The court said until then, no coercive action shall be taken against Wankhede, reported PTI.

(With PTI inputs)