HC issues notice to ED over Kejriwal’s plea on excise case summons

ED had filed two complaints – on February 3 and March 6 – under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalises non-compliance with a summons issued by a public servant

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, challenging a sessions court order that upheld summons against him in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

On September 17, sessions court had upheld a magisterial court’s order directing Kejriwal to appear before it on a complaint filed by ED, stating there was sufficient ground to proceed against him. (HT Archive)

A bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja sought the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s response, even as the agency objected to the maintainability of the AAP leader’s petition. Represented by special public prosecutor Zoheb Hossain and advocate Vivek Gurnani, ED argued that a similar plea had already been dismissed by the trial court, and a second revision was not legally tenable.

The court, however, said the objections could be raised in the agency’s reply and scheduled the next hearing for September 10.

On September 17, sessions court had upheld a magisterial court’s order directing Kejriwal to appear before it on a complaint filed by ED, stating there was sufficient ground to proceed against him.

ED had filed two complaints – on February 3 and March 6 – under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalises non-compliance with a summons issued by a public servant. The section carries a jail term of up to one month and a fine of ₹500. ED, in its complaint, alleged that Kejriwal intentionally avoided appearing before investigators despite multiple summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In March last year, additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra took cognisance of ED’s complaints and issued summons to Kejriwal. On March 16, she granted him bail. Kejriwal later challenged the summons before the sessions court, but the plea was rejected in September.

In his high court petition, Kejriwal has argued that the process leading to the summons was flawed. He contended that the summons were issued by one ED officer, while the complaints were filed by another, making the cognisance and resulting summons legally unsustainable.

The same bench also issued notice in a separate plea by Kejriwal challenging a December 20 sessions court order that upheld a magisterial court’s refusal to transfer the ED case to another court.

Kejriwal was arrested by ED in the money laundering case in March 2024 and granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on July 12.