New Delhi: Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday called the Enforcement Directorate's summons against him over the Delhi liquor policy case, "illegal and invalid". He said the ED notices are part of the BJP's vendetta politics and the party wants to arrest him to prevent him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. Reacting to the remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the AAP chief has “anarchy in his DNA”.
This is the fourth time Arvind Kejriwal skipped the Enforcement Directorate's summons over the past two months.
"ED sent me the fourth notice today and asked me to appear before them on either 18th or 19th January. These four notices are illegal and invalid. Whenever such notices are sent by ED, they are quashed by the court. These notices are nothing but just political vendetta. An investigation was being done in this case for 2 years but they did not recover anything," Kejriwal said.
Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the central agency is being run by the ruling BJP.
"Why have I been called 2 months before the Lok Sabha elections? ED is being run by BJP...Their only intention is to arrest me so that I cannot campaign for the elections," he claimed.
Also read: Excise policy case: Kejriwal likely to skip fourth summons by ED, to leave for Goa today
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Excise policy case: Kejriwal likely to skip fourth summons by ED, to leave for Goa today
{{/usCountry}}Arvind Kejriwal also said that he had written to the Enforcement Directorate saying the summons were illegal but they haven't replied.
"These notices are being sent under a political conspiracy," he added.
The BJP has slammed Kejriwal for questioning the ED.
"ED sent fourth summons to Arvind Kejriwal and wanted to question him...But what happened that Arvind Kejriwal is scared?...You now know that the accused who is behind bars, who he called 'kattar imaandaar' and who turned out to be 'kattar beimaan' - former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and MP Sanjay Singh are calling him, the kingpin of liquor scam, to them behind bars," BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said.
“It would not be wrong to say that the liquor scam kingpin is telling ED to take back its summons. He is questioning ED...If there is any example of anarchy, someone who has anarchy in his DNA - it is Arvind Kejriwal,” he added.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia have been in jail for months over money-laundering charges linked to the liquor policy case. The party says the BJP is planning to send Kejriwal to jail as well.
Last year, AAP ran a campaign seeking the people of Delhi's opinion on whether Kejriwal should resign or run the government from jail, if he is arrested.
With inputs from PTI, ANI