Excise policy case: ED goes to court over Arvind Kejriwal not receiving five summonses

Excise policy case: ED goes to court over Arvind Kejriwal not receiving five summonses

Excise Policy case: The Enforcement Directorate accuses Arvind Kejriwal of failing to appear at the agency's summons in the money laundering case involving the Delhi Liquor Policy.

Pictured above is Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal speaking during a demonstration against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly manipulating the Chandigarh mayor election on Friday, February 2, 2024, in New Delhi, India, near DDU Marg.

Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was the target of a court action brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi for failing to issue five summonses in the excise policy case.

The Enforcement Department (ED) filed a complaint against Arvind Kejriwal for failing to appear at the agency's summons in the Delhi Liquor Policy money laundering case, according to ANI. The matter was brought before Delhi's Rouse Avenue court.

Some sources state that the court heard arguments on Saturday and scheduled the remaining portion of the case for "remaining arguments and consideration" on February 7.

The most recent event occurred one day after Kejriwal disregarded the sixth ED summons for questioning in connection with a money laundering investigation pertaining to the purported liquor policy fraud.

Rather, Kejriwal participated in a demonstration on Friday with AAP leaders and members close to the BJP headquarters on DDU Marg.

The AAP said that Kejriwal's summons was "illegal" and that he would not be appearing for interrogation before the financial investigative agency. The political party went on to say that the BJP intended to arrest Kejriwal in order to overthrow his administration in Delhi.

Even today, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal is not going to appear before the ED. We'll abide with the official summons. Arvind Kejriwal's incarceration is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to overthrow the Delhi administration. This is not going to happen." AAP was cited by ANI as stating.

In the meanwhile, Kejriwal was the focus of several BJP leaders for failing to appear before the ED on Friday. Meenakshi Lekhi, a prominent BJP leader and union minister, said that Kejriwal proceeded to conduct "drama" in front of the BJP headquarters instead of showing up as instructed by the ED.

According to Lekhi, "Kejriwal is not going to the ED for questioning because he recognizes that corruption has been done and he is attempting to circumvent answering the investigating agency." denied the claim that the BJP intended to overthrow the Kejriwal administration as well.

Manoj Tiwari, a BJP MP from North East Delhi, said that Kejriwal had so far disregarded five ED summonses and questioned if he intended to convey a message to the city's youth about breaking the law. Was selected for this role?"

What is the goal of ED?

According to ANI, Kejriwal's remarks on matters such as the case's policy-making, meetings before to its conclusion, and bribery accusations are to be recorded by the ED.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a First Information Report (FIR) in 2021–22, which alleged many anomalies in the development and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy. This report serves as the basis for the case. Following accusations of corruption, the policy was rescinded.

The AAP politician Sanjay Singh and his assistant Sarvesh Mishra were named in the ED's sixth chargesheet, which was issued on December 2, 2023, alleging that the party used the policy to earn ₹45 crore during the assembly election campaign. A bribe of crores was used. Goa in the year 2022.

Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, two prominent AAP leaders, are now detained by the court in connection with the case. Sisodia, who was Delhi's deputy chief minister at the time, was questioned repeatedly.The Rajya Sabha member Singh was then taken into custody by the CBI on February 26 and again by the ED on October 5.

Kejriwal has not yet shown up for any of the past five ED summonses. On January 18, in November 2, on January 3, and on December 22, the first four were made available.