Arvind Kejriwal: US urges fair legal process for India opposition leader

NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 25: Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi addresses his supporters during a protest for the Water Bill Scheme at AAP Party Headquarters, DDU Marg on February 25, 2024 in New Delhi, India. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) continued their protest over the non-implementation of the one-time settlement scheme for unpaid water bills and urged the people of Delhi not to pay their water bills. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

In a corruption case involving Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the US has reiterated that it supports a” open” legal process.

According to a statement from the State Department on Wednesday, Mathew Miller, the US was carefully monitoring the actions taken in India against opposition events.

Mr. Miller made the remarks shortly after India summoned a US envoy over a similar statement he made on Tuesday.

Mr Kejriwal, who was arrested last month, has denied any wrongdoing.

India’s key opposition Congress party had held a press conference days before his arrest, claiming that the tax division had frozen its bank accounts ahead of the common elections.

Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP ) and the Congress have accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) government of political vendetta.

The BJP denies the incident, saying investigative authorities were doing their job freely.

Mr. Miller told reporters on Wednesday that the US was also aware of the claims made by the Congress party that the melting of their banks accounts “would make it challenging to successfully campaign in the future elections.”

” We encourage honest, open, proper legal processes]in both cases]. We do n’t think anyone should object to that”, he added.

Days earlier, India’s foreign government had summoned US acting deputy chief of mission, Gloria Berbena, to protest against similar remarks by Mr Miller.

India had even stated in a statement that” states are expected to be respectful of the independence and internal politics of people” in a diplomatic statement.

According to the government of India, the courts is committed to providing objective and fast results. Casting presumptions on that is unjustified”, the statement added.

The US is the next country to post on Mr Kejriwal’s imprisonment. The German Foreign Ministry stated last week that it hoped that Mr. Kejriwal’s trial may be” just and independent,” citing that India is a democratic country.

India also reacted strongly to these assertions, and it also summoned a European diplomat to voice its complaints.

Indian opposition officials accuse the BJP of using analytical companies to stifle criticism and to derail their parties before the elections.

Hemant Soren, the top opposition leader, resigned from the position of chief minister of Jharkhand state in January, and the Enforcement Directorate ( ED-India’s financial crime agency ) arrested him in a corruption investigation.

Mr. Soren and his party accused the BJP of stifling criticism and denied any wrongdoing. The BJP has refuted his assertion.

Amnesty International has even stated that India’s crackdown on peaceful protest and criticism has” now reached a problems stage.”

In addition, Mr. Kejriwal is the second AAP leader to be detained over an alleged corruption incident involving Delhi’s recently discontinued wine policy.

The BJP has claimed that the scheme, which ended the president’s monopoly on liquor sales, gave unfair advantages to personal retailers.

Pan officials have been accused of receiving kickbacks from state elections by the ED. The group denies the argument.

Mr Kejriwal’s prison with the ED ends on Thursday, but it’s unclear if he will be freed or sent to criminal prison.