Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will remain in jail, the Delhi High Court said Tuesday afternoon as it knocked back the Chief Minister's challenge to his March 21 arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party responded swiftly, confirming, within the hour, that it will appeal to the Supreme Court.

The court noted the Enforcement Directorate submitted material to suggest the Aam Aadmi Party leader had conspired to formulate the now-scrapped policy and was involved in demanding alleged kickbacks of Rs 100 crore, some of which was used to fund campaign expenses for the 2022 Goa election.

The court also noted the ED's submission of statements by approvers (accused turned government witnesses) and an AAP Goa candidate claiming he had been paid with the alleged kickbacks.

Kejriwal's arrest was therefore ruled valid and his plea dismissed. The court, therefore, upheld earlier remand orders - which sent him to the ED's custody and then to Delhi's Tihar Jail till April 15.

Arvind Kejriwal is the first sitting Chief Minister to be taken into custody.

In its order, the high court observed that the petition challenged the arrest and said it was in violation of Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). "The court clarifies that the plea is not for bail but for declaring the arrest illegal," Bar and Bench reported while citing the court order.

The court said doubting grant of pardon to accused (in exchange for information implicating other accused) "amounts to casting aspersions on the judicial process". "The law is over 100 years old... it is not a one-year-old law falsely enacted to implicate the petitioner," the court said sternly.