Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday withdrew his petition in the Supreme Court challenging his arrest in the liquor policy case, Bar and Bench reported. His counsel told the bench that he would instead argue his case before the court that will decide on whether to remand him in custody.

The Aam Aadmi Party chief approached the top court on Thursday night, shortly after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the request of his lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi to withdraw the petition.

Kejriwal is the first sitting chief minister to have been arrested in the country.

While Kejriwal sought an urgent hearing at night itself, the Supreme Court scheduled the matter for Friday morning.

Earlier in the day, Singhvi had mentioned the case before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.

“The matter is of some significance,” he told the court, according to Bar and Bench. “If this goes on before the first vote is cast, a lot of senior leaders will be behind the bars.”

Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai on Friday alleged that Kejriwal’s family had been put under house arrest, Hindustan Times reported.

Addressing reporters outside the chief minister’s residence, Rai said that the Delhi Police were not allowing anyone to meet Kejriwal’s family. “I want to know under which law I am being stopped from meeting the family members of the chief minister,” Rai added.

The police, in response, said that Rai was later allowed to meet Kejriwal’s family.

Delhi ministers detained during protest

On Friday, Aam Aadmi Party leaders and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were detained as party workers staged a protest in the city against the Bharatiya Janata Party following Kejriwal’s arrest, PTI reported.

The two Delhi Cabinet ministers were placed in a police bus during the protests. The police also asked the protestors at the ITO intersection near the Aam Aadmi Party and BJP offices to disperse.

The Aam Aadmi Party had called for a nationwide protest against the BJP-led Union government after the chief minister’s arrest.

Liquor policy case

The Enforcement Directorate’s case is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging irregularities in the Delhi government’s liquor excise policy, which has been scrapped.

The policy came into effect in November 2021. It was withdrawn on July 30, 2022, with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending an investigation into the alleged irregularities of the policy.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government modified Delhi’s liquor excise policy to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.