Now, US stresses ‘fair legal process’ for jailed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, March 26

The US has said it is closely following reports on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and encourages a fair legal process, a news agency quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying on Monday.

“The US government is monitoring reports on Kejriwal’s arrest and has encouraged its Indian counterpart to ensure ‘a fair, transparent, and timely legal process’ for the jailed Delhi CM,” the US spokesperson said while replying to a Reuters’ email query.

The US response comes days after Germany’s foreign office stressed that the Aam Aadmi Party leader, like any other Indian citizen facing charges, is entitled to a fair and impartial trial.

“We assume and expect that standards relating to the independence of the judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case,” a German government spokesperson said on Friday.

Germany’s reaction sparked a protest from India. India summoned a German envoy on Saturday to protest against his government’s remarks over the arrest. The MEA said the German deputy chief of mission in New Delhi was summoned and told about “India’s strong protest against the foreign office spokesperson’s comments on our internal affairs”.

The MEA said it perceived “such remarks as interference in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary”.

Asked about the arrest at a government press conference on March 22, Sebastian Fischer, spokesperson for Germany’s foreign office, had said like anyone else facing accusations, Kejriwal was entitled to a fair and impartial trial. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case.