SC to hear Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren’s pleas challenging ED arrest today
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will hear both the petitions.
A show-cause notice was sent to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar by the vigilance department, officials said on Saturday.
The notice stated that Kumar’s engagement as the personal secretary was “illegal” as it cited a pending criminal case against him dating back
to 2007 and also mentioned of his appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with regard to the agency’s ongoing probe into money laundering related to the Delhi liquor scam.
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Kumar is also accused of obstructing a public servant from doing his duty and threatening him.
“The continuation of Kumar’s service, who has a history of criminal antecedents, is in gross violation of the instructions issued from time to time by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
“The initial engagement of Bibhav Kumar is void-ab-initio and not in conformity with the extant rules as his engagement is to be governed as per the instructions issued by the DoPT from time to time, which were not
apprised by the GAD to the then Lt Governor while putting up the proposal for approval of his engagement in 2022,” the notice said.
“The services of Bibhav Kumar are liable to be terminated as per the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules… Bibhav Kumar is hereby directed to provide within a weeks’ time from the date of issuance of this notice about the status of the above mentioned criminal case and as to why his engagement shall not be terminated on expiry of one month from the date of issuance of this notice,” it said.
Kumar’s statement was recorded at the ED headquarters here under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) over allegations that he and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other accused changed around 170 phone numbers for hiding the truth about the liquor scam.
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