Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday responded to Enforcement Directorate’s eighth summons and agreed to appear before the probe agency virtually after March 12. The ED had asked him to appear today, March 4.
Earlier on February 27, the central probe agency had summoned the Delhi CM in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the now scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and asked him to appear for interrogation on March 4.
Before this, Kejriwal skipped previous ED summons on seven occassions. He was first asked to appear for questioning on February 26, February 19, February 2, January 18, January 3, December 22, and November 2.
However, the AAP chief refused to join the investigation, terming the summons “illegal and politically motivated”.
While Kejriwal is not an accused in the case so far, the ED wants to record his statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.
While skipping the seventh summons issued by the ED, AAP, in a statement, termed it “illegal”, saying that the ED should stop sending summonses and wait for the court’s decision as the probe agency has already approached the court on the matter.
A day after Kejriwal skipped the fifth summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate, the agency moved a Delhi court against him for “non-compliance with the summons”.
The case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) alleging multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22) by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The policy was withdrawn after allegations of corruption.
However, the AAP claims the ED summons are being issued on directions from the ruling BJP to target the Opposition. It also claimed that the BJP wants AAP to end its alliance with the Congress.
Kejriwal’s former deputy Manish Sisodia and Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh are already in ED custody over their alleged role in the liquor policy case.