Kejriwal Ducking ED Summons: This is when the AAP's resilience will really be tested

 Kejriwal Ducking ED Summons: This is when the AAP's resilience will really be tested

Arvind Kejriwal seems to be emulating Hemant Soren's strategy of ignoring Enforcement Directorate summonses and seeking relief from the courts. The stench of Delhi is thick with doubts over Kejriwal's destiny and AAP's de-recognition by the Election Commission, as no incumbent chief minister has been arrested recently and there are worries that the AAP may be charged as well.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), likes to keep both his allies and adversaries in the dark about his intentions, and he did the same with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

He seems to be a tough nut to crack, in contrast to many veteran politicians.

He was supposed to appear before the ED on Thursday morning in response to a summons that had been sent to him over the Delhi liquor policy case.

A Game of Cat and Mouse

The Supreme Court denied Manish Sisodia, Kejriwal's deputy, bail, and noted that there is "material and evidence" to "tentatively" support the claim that 14 wholesale liquor distributors made "excess profit" of Rs 338 crore in roughly 10 months during the now-canceled excise policy. Kejriwal received his summons at the same time.

As the ED questioned Kejriwal, a number of AAP officials, including the ministers of Delhi, Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, really expected him to be arrested. Kejriwal himself said on Thursday, at a vote rally in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, that he may be imprisoned by the time the election results are out on December 3.

Then his googly appeared. The AAP leader demanded that the ED rescind the summons, alleging that they were "illegal and politically motivated, sent at the behest" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in a sharply worded letter. In addition to asking for more information on the summons, he said he couldn't make it to the ED because of the approaching assembly elections in five states.

Given that he had quietly appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April of this year in relation to the same case, the ED had not expected his action.

The Soren Hemant antecedent

It is evident that Kejriwal sought advice from legal professionals, and it seems that he also observed Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who has so far eschewed five ED summonses related to the purported land grab in Ranchi's Bariatu region of Badgai.

Soren was scheduled to appear before the central agency on August 14, August 24, September 9, September 23, and October 4. Soren received further summonses for August 24 and September 9, respectively.

It seems that Soren is evading the ED interrogation in the hopes that the summons will be dismissed by the courts.  He had already filed a challenge to the summons with the Supreme Court. Rather, the Jharkhand High Court was requested to be contacted by the Apex Court. The Jharkhand High Court has not yet addressed the appeal that he submitted last week.

Kejriwal is using the same stalling tactics as Soren in the hopes of receiving some judicial relief.

Every Eye on the Judicial

He may decide to wait until the court rules on appeal petitions against a July 2022 ruling that granted the ED unrestricted authority to call people, make arrests, and search private property in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

A group of review petitions, arguing that an accused person has been deprived of some fundamental rights by the Apex Court's July 27, 2022, ruling, including access to a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), are being heard by a three-member Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

Regarding the ED, it has the authority to send Kejriwal further summonses. Kejriwal would then have to decide whether to file a court case contesting these letters. But because a chief minister in the PMLA has no immunity, his legal choices are restricted.

Finally, the ED may file a request for a non-bailable arrest warrant against Kejriwal with the court, citing his lack of cooperation with the agency's investigations.

Will Election Commission Take Action If AAP Is Charged?

It is also possible that the AAP may be identified as an accused party in the investigation at some point. The AAP allegedly utilized the kickbacks obtained under the Delhi excise policy to finance the Goa assembly elections in 2022, according to the ED's supplemental chargesheet.

In such instance, the Election Commission will have the last say on the matter's future course of action since there are no set guidelines for what the poll authority will do in the event that a political party is charged with anything illegal. It is unclear whether the panel will be able to suspend or revoke the AAP's recognition by citing specific sections of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order.

That will be the true litmus test for the AAP's ability to survive as a political party. Even though the AAP has triumphed over obstacles in the past, particularly after its terrible 49-day administration in Delhi and the disastrous 2017 Punjabi assembly elections, this seems to be the AAP's toughest battle to yet, especially with its senior leadership already imprisoned.

Senior journalist Aurangzeb Naqshbandi has covered the Congress for fifteen years; he is presently employed by Pixstory. Opinions are subjective and may not always reflect the position of this publication.