Kejriwal skips 5th ED summons, to lead AAP protest in Delhi

Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, were expected to lead the protest outside the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters at 11am

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s fifth summons for questioning in connection with the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy 2021-22 even as ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were gathering for a protest in the Capital.

Delhi Police and paramilitary forces at the AAP protest site. (HT PHOTO)

Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, were expected to lead the protest outside the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters at 11am on Friday to save what the AAP said the country from “theft of votes”.

In a statement, the AAP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to arrest Kejriwal and topple his government but they will never let this happen. It dismissed the summons as illegal. The AAP maintained that Kejriwal would honour “legally sound summons”.

The AAP announced the protest against the BJP’s “malpractices” in the counting of votes in the Chandigarh mayoral election this week over an hour after news of ED issuing the fresh summons to Kejriwal broke.

The BJP on Tuesday won the election after the fourth of the votes were scrapped amid allegations of vote tampering. Kejriwal blamed “electoral malpractice” for the loss of the AAP-Congress combine. He accused the BJP of “rigging the ballot” and said the incident set a bad precedent for the country ahead of the general elections.

In a post on X on Friday, Kejriwal said police were detaining AAP lawmakers and volunteers headed to the protest site. “What is this going on?” Kejriwal asked.

His Cabinet colleague Atishi wrote on X about barricades being put up across Delhi. She added buses full of AAP volunteers were being detained and hundreds of paramilitary forces have been stationed outside the AAP office. “...why is the BJP so scared of a protest on the Chandigarh mayor elections?” Atishi asked on X.

There was no immediate response from the Delhi Police.

BJP leader Harish Khurana said it was expected that Kejriwal would again skip the summons. “If the summons is illegal, why does not the Delhi chief minister go to court? [Former Jharkhand chief minister] Hemant Soren also skipped summons 10 times and ultimately he appeared before ED. When he could not answer ED questions, he was arrested. If ED takes strict action against Kejriwal, he should not cry vendetta politics. ED wants to ask a lot of questions which Kejriwal has to answer.”

The AAP has maintained the summons were illegal and politically motivated because they do not explain whether Kejriwal is being summoned as a witness or as an accused. “The notices are being sent as part of a political conspiracy. The probe is going on for two years but they have found nothing. The courts have asked them how much money was recovered and what other things such as cash, and gold were recovered. People are being forced to make false statements,” Kejriwal said on January 18 when the ED last asked him to appear for questioning.

He asked how the BJP leaders knew that he would be arrested. “It is because the BJP is running the ED. They do not want me to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls. The entire purpose of the summons is to arrest me before the polls and stop me from campaigning.”

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to replace a sales-volume-based regime with a licence fee-based one for traders to revitalise the flagging liquor business. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.

The policy was scrapped when Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. The AAP alleged that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.

ED has alleged that the AAP received kickbacks of ₹100 crore to finalise the policy and that some of this money was used in its Goa elections campaign. The agency has arrested top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in connection with the case.

The AAP has denied all charges and called the case a “witch-hunt” and “political vendetta” at the behest of the Union government. The party has been seeking public feedback on whether Kejriwal should step down as chief minister if he is arrested.