‘Discovered chats between Kejriwal and hawala operators’: ED tells Supreme Court

The submission was made during a hearing on Arvind Kejriwal's petition challenging the validity of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the case.

The Enforcement Directorate on May 17 said that it has discovered chats between Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and “hawala operators” regarding the alleged proceeds of crime in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy case.

The agency claims that the chats were recovered from the devices of hawala operators after Kejriwal refused to share his devices' passwords.

The submission was made during a hearing on Arvind Kejriwal's petition challenging the validity of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the case.

A top court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserved its judgement after hearing senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who appeared for Kejriwal and the Enforcement Directorate, respectively.

“Arguments heard. Judgement reserved. Notwithstanding the same, and without prejudice to rights and contentions, the appellant can move the trial court for grant of bail in accordance with law,” the bench said in its order.