Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, said on Monday that he will not be appearing before the Enforcement Directorate for the sixth time, citing the investigative agency’s summons as “illegal.” The AAP claimed the ED should wait for the court’s verdict rather than continually summoning Arvind Kejriwal.
This would be the sixth ED summons in connection with the money laundering investigation into anomalies in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 case that Arvind Kejriwal will ignore.
Following Kejriwal’s failure to appear for several summonses, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought a local court. On Saturday, the court granted Arvind Kejriwal a one-day exemption from personal attendance in connection with the central agency’s case.
The application filed by Arvind Kejriwal’s attorney noted that the Delhi assembly’s Budget Session began on February 15 and would continue till the first week of March.
The Delhi chief minister has stated that he will appear in person before the court on March 16, the next scheduled hearing.
Arvind Kejriwal failed to appear before the ED for the seventh time on February 2. The summons to Delhi’s chief minister followed the fourth summons, which he had ignored on January 18.
While skipping the fifth summons, the party called it “unlawful.”
According to the ED, the agency wanted to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.
In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED has claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth ₹45 crore generated via the policy as part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.
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Source: HT
