Kejriwal Withdraws Petition from Supreme Court Challenging His Arrest, Will Go to Lower Court

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who skipped nine summons by the Enforcement Directorate before his arrest on Thursday night, in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam, withdrew a Supreme Court petition against his arrest on Friday.

According to sources, the Delhi CM will now approach a trial court, in accordance with the protocol. He will also be produced before a special court that deals with ED’s cases.

The AAP chief withdrew his apex court petition after BRS leader K Kavitha’s similar bail petition was denied by the apex court. She was arrested last week in the same excise policy case. The same Supreme Court bench that heard Kavitha’s case was to hear the plea by Arvind Kejriwal.

The Supreme Court Bench asked Kavitha to approach the trial court for relief, including bail. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice MM Sundresh, and Justice Bela Trivedi said it could not allow individuals to approach it directly – without going through the lower courts – simply because they were persons of influence, such as a senior political leader or a Chief Minister.

Given the court’s reaction to Ms Kavitha’s petition, Mr Kejriwal’s legal team said it had withdrawn its plea as it did not expect a positive response.