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An unprecedented event took place in Indian political history involving the arrest of the sitting Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal on 21 March 2024. Enforcement Directorate summoned Delhi’s Chief Minister in total nine times before eventually raiding the chief minister’s residence and taking him into custody. His arrest is linked to the Delhi liquor policy scandal. Aam Aadmi Party leader soughtprotection from Delhi High Court before getting arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. However,the High Court denied his request for relief from coercive action. He will remain in custody before appearing in front of the court on 28 March.

Arvind Kejriwal and his companions formed the Aam Aadmi Party on November 26, 2012. He and his party AAP’s advent in India’s politics links back to the Anti-corruption Movement in 2011. Anna Hazare, a prominent social activist led the movement proposing a new policy against corruption named Jana Lokpal Bill. The movement was the result of the mistrust of Delhi’s people to their then government. Several events shattered the trust of people starting fromthe horrific Mumbai Attack in 2008 and the unfolding of several major scams such as the ISRO scam in 2010, the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the Tatra Defense Scam in 2011, and eventually the Commonwealth Games scam. 

Arvind Kejriwal was part of the major movement against corruption. Despite this, he shared differing beliefs from Anna Hazare who was not interested in getting into politics. After founding the political party AAP, he surprisingly was able to pull off a landslide victory against Sheila Dikshit in Delhi’s state assembly election in 2013.From then on, he and his party have run the government for over 10 years.

The recent affairs regarding the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal stem from the introduction of a new excise policy back in November 2021 aiming at the modernization of liquor sales and honing more revenue for the government. A Group of Ministers led by then Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendra Kumar Jain constituted an expert committee to set the foundation of the new excise policy. The bill gave private corporations store operation licenses in place of the government's previous ownership of liquor outlets. Additionally, it suggested raising the yearly license price from Rs. 8 lakhs to Rs. 75 lakhs.Under the new excise policy, the areas of Delhi were categorized into 32 zones, each allotted to a maximum of 27 vendors.A few months after the policy's adoption, several complaints surfaced, one of which was sent to the Delhi Police in June 2022 by Chaudhary Anil Kumar, the former president of the Delhi Congress, and claimed that the policy contained a "multi-crore scam". The issue at hand garnered a great deal of attention and was met with a range of controversial statements from different sources. These statements have highlighted a significant loophole in the current excise policy.Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena received a report from Delhi's Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar stating the violations in the policy provided the CBI probe recommended by him. The report concluded "financial losses to the exchequer" for over Rs 580 crore.

In another investigation, the Enforcement Directorate alleged Jain and Sisodia for overruling the decision of experts and bypassing the Lieutenant Governor in implementing the policy. The ED also alleged Vijay Nair, AAP’s communication head for getting illegally paid amounting to Rs. 100 crores by a "South Group", consisting of Hyderabad-based private entities. Due to those accusations, Manish Sisodiaand three other people were the targets of raids by the CBI. In its FIR, the CBI listed Sisodia and fourteen other accused parties, including Vijay Nair, who was taken into custody in September 2022. K Kavitha, a leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), was also detained on March 15, 2024, for reportedly giving significant sums of money to prominent AAP figures to gain benefits from the new Delhi excise policy.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which translates to the "Common Man’s Party," was formed following a significant anti-corruption movement, offering hope to the general populace. However, the unfolding events surrounding the Delhi Liquor Policy scandal, coupled with the arrest of leaders from the same party, appear to dampen the optimism initially sparked by Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP.

Moreover, there is concern regarding Kejriwal's arrest just before India's national election, with many speculating a political connection. The United States has already expressed apprehension over this matter. Nevertheless, Kejriwal remains resolute in his determination to govern Delhi, even while in custody. Despite this, the future of Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP remains uncertain until the pending hearings provide clarity.

Aong Cha Ching Marma is an Intern at CGS

The views expressed in this write-up are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policies of CGS.