New Delhi | The ED on Monday sought extension of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody after he surrenders on June 2 in an excise policy-linked money-laundering case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) moved the application before Special Judge for ED and CBI Kaveri Baweja, seeking 14-day judicial custody for Kejriwal when he surrenders on June 2, claiming that the period of judicial custody granted earlier ends on Monday.
Kejriwal is out on interim bail till June 1 following an order of the Supreme Court, which has directed him to surrender on June 2.
The ED, meanwhile, told the court that there is sufficient evidence against Kejriwal and co-accused, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, to put them on trial in the case.
The central probe agency made the submission in support of its supplementary charge sheets filed against both the politicians.
The judge will continue hearing the ED's arguments on the point of taking cognisance of the charge sheets on Tuesday.
The judge, meanwhile, also extended till June 2 Kavitha's judicial custody in the money-laundering and corruption cases, lodged by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) respectively, in connection with the scam.
The excise case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
Lt Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities. Subsequently, the ED filed a case on August 22, 2022, taking cognisance of the CBI FIR that was lodged on August 17, 2022.
New Delhi | The Enforcement Directorate has written to the Union Home Ministry alleging the Aam Aadmi Party, which rules Delhi and Punjab, has received more than Rs 7 crore foreign funds in contravention of the FCRA, official sources said Monday.
The federal probe agency sent the communication after it recovered some documents and emails during a drugs-linked money laundering probe against former Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira and some others.
The probe was launched in 2021 and Khaira was arrested by the ED that year. He is now with the Congress party.
Official sources said the ED had sent a detailed communication to the Union Home Ministry in August last year, underlining the alleged violations by the AAP and categorising these instances as contravention of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and The Representation of the People Act.
It is understood that the ED recently shared some fresh inputs in this case with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Sources said the ED found the AAP received overseas donations of about Rs 7.08 crore till now and they allegedly "mis-declared and manipulated" the identities and nationalities of the foreign donors apart from some other details.
The agency has also informed the MHA about the verified names of the donors, their nationalities, passport numbers, amount donated, mode of donation and bank account number of the receiver, billing name, address, phone numbers, email, time and the date of donation and payment gateway used, the sources said.
Some fundraising events held by the AAP through its overseas wing volunteers in the USA and Canada between 2015 and 2016 are reported to have been made in alleged violation of the FCRA, the agency told the ministry.
Alleging violations in a particular instance, the ED also informed the MHA that the names of some Canada-based people and their nationalities had been "concealed" in the party's financial records to "hide" the foreign donations being made to the party into its Indian bank account.
A senior official said cases of FCRA violations are probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the home ministry can write to it seeking an investigation into these charges made by the ED.
