"ED told the court about tracing a money trail amounting to ₹45 crore while requesting an extension of Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody"

The court has prolonged the judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal and another accused individual until July 3.

On Wednesday, a Delhi court extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody until July 3 in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam. Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, remains in Tihar's jail number 2.

The Supreme Court had granted Kejriwal interim bail for 21 days on May 10 to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He returned to Tihar jail on June 2 after the bail period ended.

During the recent hearing, the court inquired about the necessity of extending Kejriwal's judicial custody. The ED's counsel explained that Vinod Chauhan received ₹25 crore from K Kavitha's personal assistant through Abhishek Boinpally for the Goa election, as reported by ANI.

The investigating officer informed the court that the ₹25 crore was part of a larger ₹100 crore money trail, with ₹45 crore already traced. The officer also noted that Vinod Chauhan remains under investigation, and a prosecution complaint against him is expected to be filed by the end of the month.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the case fundamentally revolves around Kejriwal's involvement, noting that the CBI, not the ED, had alleged that Kejriwal demanded a ₹100 crore bribe.

Vivek Jain, Kejriwal's counsel, opposed the ED's request for an extension of judicial custody, arguing that there were no valid grounds for the extension and describing the application as "bereft of merits." Jain emphasized that they are challenging the judicial remand, which is currently under review by the Supreme Court.