Arvind Kejriwal skips summons again, ED approaches court
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra has listed the matter for hearing on February 7, 2024
A day after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal skipped the fifth summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agency on Saturday approached a Delhi court against him for “non-compliance with the summons”.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra has listed the matter for hearing on February 7, 2024.
Read here: ED approaches court against Kejriwal for skipping summons 5 times
The complaint has been moved by the agency under sections 190 and 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with section 174 of the Indian Penal Code for not complying with the summons issued to him under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and not joining the investigation. Section 50 of PMLA grants power to the agency to issue summons to any person enforcing their attendance and examining them in an investigation.
The national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kejriwal, has skipped five summons — on November 2, December 22, January 3, January 18, and February 2. AAP has maintained that the summons to Kejriwal were illegal and politically motivated because they do not explain whether he is being called as a witness or an accused.
In his response to ED’s third summons, Kejriwal said he was ready to cooperate in the probe but alleged that the agency intended to arrest and prevent him from campaigning for this year’s Lok Sabha elections.
The agency, however, said it wants to question Kejriwal on the formulation of the now-scrapped excise policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.
The federal agency has been conducting a money laundering probe into the Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22 and filed six charge sheets in the matter so far.
The case before the court is regarding the Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business in a bid to replace a sales volume-based regime with a license 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.
However, the policy ended abruptly after lieutenant governor VK Saxena recommended a probe into the alleged irregularities in its framing and implementation.