Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal skips sixth ED summons

Terming the agency’s sixth summons to its national convener as “illegal”, the party said that the ED should wait for the court’s decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to Kejriwal

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the sixth summons of Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued to him for questioning in connection with its investigation into a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

Kejriwal will physically appear before the court on the next date of hearing on March 16. (PTI photo)

The ED had asked the Delhi CM to appear before it on February 19.

Calling the ED summons illegal, an AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) official said, “The ED summons is illegal. The matter of validity of ED summons is now in court. ED itself went to court. Instead of sending summons again and again, ED should wait for the court’s decision”.

The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday granted Kejriwal an exemption from personally appearing in court over the ED summons till March 16.

Kejriwal appeared before the court virtually, submitting that he could not physically appear due to the ongoing Budget session and the confidence motion in the House.

The ED earlier this month moved the Rouse Avenue court over Kejriwal skipping its summons.

Kejriwal has skipped six summonses — on February 19, February 2, January 18 and January 3 this year, and December 22 and November 2 last year.

Reacting to the development, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secretary Harish Khurana said it was expected that Kejriwal will again skip the summons to avoid investigation into the liquor case.

“Arvind Kejriwal has been skipping the summons because he has no respect for the laws. He should remember that former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren evaded 10 summons and even went to court but was arrested because he could not answer the ED’s questions. Kejriwal will also have to answer ED’s questions in the excise policy case,” Khurana said.

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume based regime with a licence fee-based one for traders, and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. The policy also introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor, a first for Delhi.

The plan, however, came to an abrupt end, with lieutenant governor VK Saxena recommending a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the regime.