The first sitting chief minister to be arrested is Arvind Kejriwal. Just before his arrest, Hemant Soren submitted his resignation as chief minister of Jharkhand.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, became the first sitting chief minister to be detained when he was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday in relation to the liquor investigation. The arrest occurred just two months after the arrest of Hemant Soren, a well-known opposition leader from Jharkhand, who had just resigned as chief minister to make room for Champai Soren to assume the role. But according to the AAP leadership, Kejriwal would continue to serve as chief minister and govern the nation’s capital from behind bars. A week has passed since Kejriwal’s arrest, which was also significant in relation to the liquor investigation. Leader of the BRS K Kavitha was taken to New Delhi after being detained last week in Hyderabad.
Although there were indications from Kavitha’s arrest that Kejriwal would be the next target for the ED, a high court ruling on Thursday made it clearer as the court rejected any protection Kejriwal would receive from any coercive action by the agency. With a search warrant, ED agents stormed into Kejriwal’s Civil Lines home hours after the high court’s decision. A few hours later, Kejriwal was brought into police custody.
The ED has been calling Kejriwal to participate in the investigation since last year, but Kejriwal has ignored all of the calls so far, citing other commitments. Kejriwal petitioned the court, arguing that the ED summons was unlawful. Kejriwal suffered a serious setback when the court declared on Thursday that it had no plans to take up the matter at this time.
AAP leader and minister from Delhi, Atishi, stated that the party has already petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn Kejriwal’s incarceration. Atishi wrote on X, “We have requested an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court tonight itself.”
Kejriwal will continue to serve as chief minister, according to the AAP leadership, which made this decision following a poll of 23.8 lakh Delhi households conducted as part of “Main Bhi Kejriwal.”
In 2013, Arvind Kejriwal, then 55, was elected chief minister of Delhi after leading the anti-corruption movement alongside Anna Hazare. A year after Kejriwal’s resignation for not presenting the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly, he was appointed as the second youngest chief minister of Delhi. He was once more appointed chief minister in 2015 following his Aam Aadmi Party’s majority victory in the election. The AAP gained a majority once more in 2020.
After passing the civil services test, Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Services in 1995 as an assistant commissioner of income tax. Kejriwal studied mechanical engineering at IIT-Kharagpur. In 2006, he submitted his resignation as a joint commissioner of income tax.
