Arvind Kejriwal skips ED’s summons, says it was ‘illegal, politically motivated’

The CM office said on Thursday that the CM has sent a reply to the ED after legally examining ED’s second summons

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has called the Enforcement Directorate (ED) second summons ‘illegal and politically motivated’ and asked the ED to withdraw the summons, officials at the chief minister’s office said on Thursday.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (HT file)

Kejriwal is skipping the second summons of the ED asking him to appear before it on Thursday (December 21) for questioning in the Delhi excise case. A day before his expected appearance in the ED office, Kejriwal left Delhi according to a programme that was finalised before he received the summons on Monday, December 18.

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

He is to participate in a vipassana (meditation) session at a centre in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab for 10 days. Kejriwal’s office announced this on Saturday, December 16. Vipassana is an ancient Indian meditation technique that requires practitioners to abstain from talking or communicating in any other way. It is believed to be beneficial for the mind and body

Kejriwal’s office said on Thursday that the chief minister has replied to ED after legally examining the second summons. “I am ready to accept every legal summons. This ED summons is also illegal like the previous summons. ED summons is politically motivated and should be withdrawn. I have lived my life with honesty and transparency and I have nothing to hide,” the chief minister’s office said, quoting Kejriwal.

The details of the reply sent by the CM to the ED were, however, not shared with the media. Or the grounds for calling the fresh summons illegal.

There was no response from ED on the development.

Kejriwal skipped ED’s first summons on November 2 and flew to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh to address a political rally.

At the time, Kejriwal wrote to ED that the summons was not clear on three aspects: in what capacity he was being summoned, as a witness or a suspect; the precise reason why he was being summoned; and whether he was being summoned in his individual capacity or in his official role as chief minister or AAP’s national convener. He also described the summons as a “fishing and roving” inquiry.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said: “Arvind Kejriwal is avoiding ED summons on the pretext of attending vipassana. It shows that Kejriwal does not have respect for the law of the land... Kejriwal should not play a victim card when the law takes a coercive action against him in future. The ED wants to question him because he seems to be the mastermind behind the entire excise scam.”

ED officials said on Monday that they have summoned Kejriwal for questioning on Thursday in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy investigation.

Kejriwal was earlier questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 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.

Until now, ED has arrested top AAP leaders, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in the case.

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

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”.

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.