Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday maintained his arrest was part of a political conspiracy as he was produced in a Delhi court at the end of his Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand

He made the remark when asked to comment on lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s statement that the Delhi government will not be run from jail. “It is a political conspiracy. The people will give a reply,” said Kejriwal before he was produced in the court, where his wife, Sunita, Delhi ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were among those present.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued notice on Kejriwal’s plea seeking his release and declaring his arrest and remand as illegal. It said no order could be issued for immediate relief to Kejriwal until ED was given reasonable time to respond to his petition as well as the plea for interim relief.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 hours after the high court denied his request for interim protection from arrest. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has maintained his arrest was a politically motivated move to tarnish Kejriwal’s image ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. It has insisted that Kejriwal will continue as the chief minister and he has issued two orders from jail.

ED has said Kejriwal was arrested on the basis of evidence linking him to the alleged money laundering activities associated with the now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy.