Liquor Policy ‘Scam’: Kejriwal moved to jail
Senior opposition Indian politician Arvind Kejriwal was moved to a high-security prison yesterday after his arrest last month, a case supporters say is politically motivated and that comes ahead of elections.
Kejriwal, 55, chief minister of the capital Delhi, had been held since his arrest on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate, India's main financial crimes agency.
Yesterday, he was transferred to prison for 14 days as investigations continue, his party said.
"Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days," Sanjeev Nasiar, legal chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man Party, told reporters.
Kejriwal's government is accused of receiving kickbacks while handing out liquor licences to private companies.
His supporters say Kejriwal's arrest was aimed at sidelining challengers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kejriwal, who denies the allegations, is a key leader in an opposition alliance formed to challenge Modi in the marathon six-week national elections beginning April 19.
AAP's Nasiar said this party can now apply for bail for Kejriwal, but it was not immediately clear what will happen once the initial 14 days in prison come to an end -- just days before voting begins.
Many analysts see Modi's re-election as a foregone conclusion.
The court's decision comes a day after a New Delhi rally by the INDIA bloc, an alliance of 27 opposition parties including AAP, to protest against Kejriwal's arrest, where they accused Modi of seeking to rig the elections.
Regional groups are among the opposition parties also facing action by federal agencies, which they have called politically motivated.
The main opposition Congress party has been hit with large income tax demands it described as a bid to cripple it financially before the elections, an accusation the BJP has denied.
On Monday, in a breather for Congress, tax authorities told the Supreme Court they would not pursue a demand for a tax payment of 35 billion rupees ($420 million) until after the elections.
The party has gone to court to challenge the tax demand, which is in addition to 1.35 billion rupees it has already paid.