Delhi minister and senior AAP leader Atishi on Sunday hit out at the Centre over fresh summons by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal alleging that the only motive behind all this is to arrest the AAP leader ahead of the polls.
Addressing a press conference here, Atishi alleged that the ED did not even wait for court’s decision into the matter where Kejriwal got bail on Saturday in the complaint by the agency with regard to its summons, and on the same day’s evening issued summons, one regarding the liquor policy case and the other in connection with a Delhi Jal Board alleging money laundering.
According to sources, the Delhi CM has been asked to appear before the agency on March 18 in the DJB related probe by the ED
Atishi further alleged that the Centre just wanted that somehow ”if Kejriwal is not arrested in the liquor policy matter, then there should be some other reason to somehow get him arrested”.
She claimed that the court’s validation of the ED summons is pending, while it granted bail to the AAP chief.
”The central government and the agency were not bothered about the legal process, and sent summons to Arvind Kejriwal to solely hinder his election campaigning,” she added.
The minister also termed the DJB case as fake, adding that even the AAP leaders were not aware about the alleged scam that is being probed in this regard.
The AAP senior leader further claimed that the sole aim of the BJP was to put AAP national convenor in jail.
“Arvind Kejriwal appeared personally in the Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday. The court granted him bail, and now there will be arguments in the court regarding the legitimacy of the ED summons,” Atishi said.
Sharpening her attack on the Centre, Atishi further dubbed the agencies as the alleged tools of the Modi government which were being used to topple their opponents.
She alleged that the ”tools of the government” have systematically targeted opposition parties one by one.
The minister said that the AAP chief had informed the court three weeks ago that as soon as the assembly’s budget session ends, he would immediately appear before the court, and on Saturday he did appear in person, while the court also granted bail to Kejriwal.
Atishi further claimed that the legal process will now begin and there will be arguments on the case, and the court will examine whether the summons sent by the ED to CM Arvind Kejriwal are legal or illegal.
Whether CM Kejriwal will have to appear before the ED on the basis of those summonses or not will also be decided in the court, Atishi claimed.
Now the entire issue will be subject to legal arguments, she said.