Why the arrest of Kejriwal may have big consequences

livemint.com:

There might be some people who think like this: India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) is an independent investigative body that has gone after some key people in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) purely to rid the nation of corruption. But I personally do not know a single person who thinks this.

There is a perception that Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday night for political reasons. Even so, people believe that the ED must have some sort of dirt on AAP to prove its claim that Kejriwal took kickbacks to devise a liquor policy that favoured some “wholesalers from the south." Otherwise, how could a sitting chief minister of Delhi be arrested from his home, and his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, spend so many months in jail? As publicly known so far, what the ED has as evidence against them in the Delhi liquor policy case are statements of co-accused who turned approvers.

If there is further evidence, we do not yet know. While denying bail to Sisodia, who has been in prison since February 2023, the Supreme Court observed that just because a policy enriches some people, and it is natural for government policy to benefit some people, it does not automatically prove that politicians adopted it for kickbacks.

The ED is yet to show a money trail establishing that AAP leaders received bribes. The liquor policy case has demonstrated the ease with which the ED can put popular politicians in jail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the reluctance of courts to grant bail.

What is the consequence of this extraordinary phase in Indian politics? What is the consequence of Kejriwal finding himself in a lock-up on corruption charges? I guess that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s analysis is that it stands to gain. The