‘Fishing and roving enquiry’: What Arvind Kejriwal said in his letter to ED over Delhi excise policy case summons

In his letter to ED Assistant Director, Kejriwal wrote: “The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect in the above-mentioned case… (It) does not specify whether I am being summoned as an individual or in my official capacity as Chief Minister of Delhi or as National Convenor of AAP and appears to be in the nature of a fishing and roving inquiry.”

Alleging that the summons was issued at the behest of the BJP, Kejriwal said, “The said summons appear to be motivated and issued for extraneous considerations. Simultaneous to the summons, in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started making statements that soon I would be summoned and arrested. By the evening of that day, I received your summons”.

“It is thus apparent that the said summons was leaked to select BJP leaders to malign my image and reputation and has been issued at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre. Illustratively, BJP MP Sh. Manoj Tiwari openly stated in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, i.e. the same day on which the said summons have been issued to me, that I will be arrested and the same has been widely reported in the media,” he added.

Kejriwal, who will address a road show in MP on Thursday, said he was the AAP’s star campaigner ahead of the Assembly polls.

He wrote, “I am the incumbent Chief Minister of the Govt. of NCT of Delhi and National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, i.e. the ruling party in the State of NCT of Delhi and Punjab. The fact that there are five states in the country, ie Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, which are going to election shortly and the Election Commission has already announced the dates. Elections are in November and the results will be announced on December 3, 2023”.

“Being the National Convenor and a star campaigner of the Aam Aadmi Party, a National Party, which is contesting elections, I am required to travel for campaigning and to provide political guidance to my field workers of Aam Aadmi Party. As the Chief Minister of the State of NCT of Delhi, I have governance and official commitments, for which my presence is required, particularly in view of the Diwali festivities coming up in the second week of November 2023.”

Asking that summons be recalled, he wrote, “In view of the above, please recall the said summons, which is, to say the least, is vague and motivated and, I am advised, unsustainable in law.”