A Delhi court on Wednesday summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on February 17 on a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy.
The ED had on February 3 filed a fresh complaint against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader for the non-compliance of its summons. It argued that Kejriwal is a public servant, and he cannot ignore the orders of a government agency.
“Cognisance of the complaint has been taken, and a summons is being issued to him to appear on February 17,” Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra said. The AAP said it is studying the court order and will take action as per the law.
The chief minister skipped the fifth summons from the probe agency on February 2. He had either ignored or not responded to previous notices issued on January 31, January 19, December 21, and November 2, citing various reasons.
The AAP convenor had earlier written a letter to the ED, terming the summonses “illegal and politically motivated”. He alleged they were aimed at preventing him from campaigning in elections.
The summons to Kejriwal pertains to questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021–22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the AAP.
The policy was subsequently scrapped, and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA. The CBI had summoned Kejriwal in April last year in connection with the case, though he had not been named as an accused in its FIR.
