The Enforcement Directorate has defended in the Supreme Court Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, arguing there cannot be different standards for dealing with ordinary criminals and politicians in money-laundering cases.

The agency has also stated that Kejriwal can expect no “immunity from arrest on the ground that he is required to canvass in the election”.

In an affidavit filed through ED deputy director Bhanu Priya Meena, the probe agency has said it has ample evidence against Kejriwal. It denied any mala fide in his arrest, alleging he had been evasive in his replies and had ignored nine summonses.

Over 170 smartphones had been destroyed by various accused to conceal data related to the Rs 100-crore excise policy scandal, it added.

“It is a settled position of law particularly in criminal matters that if an action is justified and based on material then mala fides is of no consequence. In the present case the arrest of the petitioner is based on material in possession of the investigating officer and not based on any other extraneous grounds or mala fides,” the ED stated.

The agency has filed the affidavit in response to a notice from the top court on Kejriwal’s plea challenging his March 21 arrest. He has been in judicial custody since then. The apex court will hear the matter on April 29.

According to the ED, the investigation has to be seen against the backdrop of large-scale destruction of evidence.