The United States has said that it encourages a “fair and transparent” legal process for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the liquor policy scam.
A US spokesperson told Reuters that Washington is closely monitoring the reports of the arrest of the Aam Aadmi Party leader ahead of the general elections.
"We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal," the spokesperson said.
The US reaction came days after Germany made a similar statement, saying the chief minister was entitled to a fair and impartial trial.
"We assume and expect that the standards relating to the independence of Judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case," German foreign ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said on Friday.
India termed his remarks an interference in its judicial process and lodged a strong protest by summoning the German deputy chief of mission in New Delhi on Saturday.
"We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"India is a vibrant and robust democracy with the rule of law. As in all legal cases in the country, and elsewhere in the democratic world, law will take its own course in the instant matter. Biased assumptions made on this account are most unwarranted," he further said.
Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP, was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the ED's custody till March 28 by a Delhi court.
The Delhi High Court will hear a petition by Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the ED, on Wednesday.
The case pertains to the alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped. Top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case.
