Kejriwal skips ED summons in Delhi Jal Board case

The development came a day after ED issued Kejriwal summons to appear before it in connection with two separate cases

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with alleged irregularities in the awarding of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) contracts, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing the federal agency of “illegal” action.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal arrives at Rouse Avenue Court following summons issued to him by the court on the basis of two ED complaints in connection with the Delhi excise policy case on Saturday. (ANI)

The development came a day after ED issued Kejriwal summons to appear before it in connection with two separate cases — the DJB case on Monday, and the probe related to the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 on March 21.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Kejriwal of “trying to hide something”.

ED‘s probe into alleged irregularities in the awarding of DJB contracts is based on a case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 2022, related to alleged corruption in the water utility. CBI has alleged that former DJB chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora awarded a contract to M/s NKG Infrastructure Ltd for ₹38 crore, even though the company did not meet the technical eligibility criteria.

ED arrested Arora on January 31, and on February 6 conducted raids at 12 locations, including those connected to Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar and AAP parliamentarian ND Gupta. The federal agency subsequently alleged that bribes generated in the awarding of the contract were passed on as “election funds” to the AAP.

To be sure, the agency has also summoned Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case eight times in the past — on November 2, December 22, January 3, January 18, February 2, February 19, February 27, and on March 4. Kejriwal has skipped each appearance, calling the summons “illegal and politically motivated”.

Subsequently, ED filed two complaints — on February 3 and on March 6 — seeking initiation of prosecution against Kejriwal under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for not appearing before the agency. However, a Delhi court on March 16 granted Kejriwal bail in connection with the complaints.

On Monday, the AAP said that the summons in both cases are illegal, and claimed that the BJP-led central government was targeting Kejriwal.

“The biggest question arising in the minds of the people is the way BJP is using agencies such as ED, CBI, and income tax department to crush the opposition by trapping their leaders in fake cases. When will ED stop serving the BJP’s agenda? ED sent notices earlier too, and the CM said the summons are illegal. ED went to the court saying that the summons are legal. When the matter is sub-judice and the verdict is yet to come, why is the ED so desperate?” said Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai .

“ED has served notice in another case. If the BJP’s only purpose is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal, then there is no need for a summons... If they (the BJP) believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, then they should wait for the court’s order,” he added.

The AAP had on Sunday termed the two summons issued by ED an attempt to stop Kejriwal from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, and had referred to the alleged irregularities in DJB as a “back-up case”.

Meanwhile, the BJP accused Kejriwal of not respecting the law.

“He evaded the ED summons on purpose. The investigation agencies are doing their work. It is the court that will decide whether the summons are legal or not. ED summoned Kejriwal to ask questions in the DJB case. Since Kejriwal has skipped the summons, it makes it clear that Kejriwal is trying to hide something. If Kejriwal has not done anything wrong, then he should appear before the agency,” BJP leader Harish Khurana said.