ED summons Arvind Kejriwal for 6th time in Delhi excise policy case

Kejriwal has not appeared for questioning in the matter on five prior occasions so far, calling the summons “illegal” and “politically motivated”. He also questioned them on the basis of not being named as an accused in the case.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the Delhi CM had so far not been able to obtain any relief on his plea against the ED summons. “Delhi hopes that Kejriwal will accept the ED’s sixth summons and cooperate in the investigation of the liquor scam… If Kejriwal still does not cooperate with the investigation, it will be a disrespect to the investigation and justice system,” he said.

On February 3, a day after the CM skipped the fifth summons, the agency had filed a complaint before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra under Sections 190 and 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code for not complying with summons issued by it under Section 50 (power to issue summons) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and for not joining ongoing investigation in the case.

In its application, the ED had stated that if Kejriwal, a high-ranking public functionary, disobeyed the law, it would set a wrong example for the common man. It also blamed him for being “non-cooperative” in the investigation. It also stated that Kejriwal had “no special immunity” to disobey the summons merely on account of being a CM and “on the pretext of being busy in some work”.

The court then said the ED sought to summon Kejriwal to unearth the role of others, including that of the “proposed accused” (Kejriwal) in the excise policy case. It noted that the ED said the “proposed accused” had intentionally skipped the summons.

In reaction, the AAP had said it was studying the order and would submit to the court why all of the ED’s summons were “illegal” and take “necessary legal steps accordingly”.

Kejriwal was first summoned by the ED in October 2023 to appear on November 2, which he had not done citing governance-related work in Delhi ahead of Diwali, along with party campaigns in then poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

For the second summons, Kejriwal had said he had to attend a Vipassana session; the third summons was skipped citing Rajya Sabha elections, Republic Day celebrations and the ED’s ‘non-disclosure’ and ‘non-response’ approach

The fourth summons saw AAP sources citing Kejriwal’s trip to Goa to attend a pre-scheduled programme between January 18-20 and the fifth summons had been issued for appearance on February 2.