Arvind Kejriwal skips ED probe, says it was ‘illegal, politically motivated

The Delhi chief minister left for a scheduled break at a 10-day vipassana meditation retreat in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab

Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday called the summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise case “illegal”, issued at the behest of “political rivals who wish to silence the voice of Opposition”, and to “harass” him. The Delhi chief minister asked the federal agency to recall the summons in a letter he wrote to ED on December 20.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (HT File) (HT_PRINT)

Read here: ED summons are to create sensational news ahead of Parliamentary elections: CM Kejriwal

Kejriwal, who was called by ED on Thursday, left for a scheduled break at a 10-day vipassana meditation retreat in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. He had also skipped the previous summons on November 2.

“I am a conscientious law-abiding ordinary citizen of the country and I do not shirk away from complying with any summons issued in compliance with law, but your summons is (I am advised) not in consonance with law. The fact that you have deliberately sought my appearance only in person without specifying any reason or necessity therefor when the said Act itself provides for appearance through authorised persons, is indicative of the motive to harass and embarrass me,” Kejriwal wrote to ED assistant director Jogender.

HT has seen a copy of the letter.

Kejriwal is in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, where he is undertaking a 10-day vipassana meditation course. His plan to travel there was made public before he got the summons on December 18. The chief minister is scheduled to return to the Capital on December 30.

“The timing of your summons leaves much to desire and strengthens my belief that the summons being sent to me are not based upon any objective or rational yardstick but for extraneous considerations at the behest of political rivals who wish to silence the voice of opposition to the ruling dispensation at the Centre to create sensational news in the final few months leading up to the Parliamentary elections in the early to mid 2024,” Kejriwal said in the letter.

He also pointed out that he received the summons on the eve of his pre-announced departure for vipassana (earlier scheduled to begin on December 19) to his “utter dismay and concern”.

HT reached out to ED but no response was immediately available.

Kejriwal once again asked ED in what capacity the agency had summoned him -- “as witness or suspect, or as chief minister of Delhi, or as Aam Aadmi Party national convener”.

“Your summons appears to be a fishing and roving enquiry. In similar circumstances, where individuals are neither informed about the case details nor the capacity in which they are being summoned by the Enforcement Directorate, high courts have declared such summons of Enforcement Directorate invalid and quashed the summons,” he added, referring to a decision by the Rajasthan high court in a different matter in November.

Kejriwal, had raised similar queries after the first summons last month.

The issue snowballed into a political controversy, with BJP’s Delhi leaders claiming the CM was making excuses.

Kejriwal was earlier questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case as the two federal agencies are probing two different angles in the Delhi liquor policy case.

ED has alleged that the AAP received kickbacks to the tune of ₹100 crore to finalise the Delhi excise policy, and that a chunk of this were used by the party in its Goa elections campaign. These alleged kickbacks, received from the “South Group”, were transferred to former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair with the help of accused Abhishek Boinpally and Dinesh Arora, the agency has claimed. Arora, in turn, assisted Rajesh Joshi of Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd to use these funds in AAP’s Goa poll campaign, according to one of ED’s charge sheets. ED has also claimed that AAP volunteers were paid in cash during the campaign.

ED has arrested top AAP leaders, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in the case. In all, at least 14 people have been arrested by the agency, and ED has approached court seeking permission to investigate AAP as a beneficiary of the “proceeds of crime”.

Read here: ‘Summons sent by BJP, not ED’: AAP's Raghav Chadha on ED's call to Kejriwal

AAP, Kejriwal, Sisodia, and Singh have denied all charges and called the case a “witch-hunt” and “political vendetta” at the behest of the Union government.

Delhi minister Atishi on Thursday said that the BJP was arresting one after another AAP leader in fake cases to stop the rising growth and popularity of the AAP beyond Delhi and Punjab. “The ED summons issued to CM Arvind Kejriwal is actually a BJP summons and reflects the fear of BJP which is unable to match AAP in governance delivery. We are not scared of the summons, we will continue to work for the people,” she said in a press conference at the Delhi secretariat.