'Arrest illegal… assault on tenets of democracy'

New Delhi, NT Bureau: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday told the Supreme Court that his "illegal arrest" in a money-laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on "free and fair elections" and "federalism".

In a rejoinder to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) reply affidavit filed on his petition challenging his arrest in the case, Kejriwal said the mode, manner and timing of his arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections when the Model Code of Conduct had come into play, speaks volumes about the "arbitrariness" of the agency.

Kejriwal claimed it is a "classical case" of how the Centre has misused the ED and its wide powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to "crush" the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders.

"... It is submitted that the petitioner's arrest constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on 'free and fair elections' and 'federalism', both of which form significant constituents of the basic structure of the Constitution," the rejoinder said.