Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to skip ED summons again, calls notice "illegal"

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Pic/PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will skip ED summons again. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor scam case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sources said on Wednesday, reported news agency ANI.

ED issued a third summons to CM Arvind Kejriwal earlier on December 22 last year, in connection with the excise policy case, asking him to appear before the agency on January 3.

This was the third ED notice to Arvind Kejriwal, also the AAP's convener, after he refused to appear before the federal agency on two earlier summonses for November 2 and December 21.

As per the party sources, Kejriwal in his reply to ED has expressed his readiness to cooperate with the investigation but declined to appear today calling the notice "illegal", reported ANI.

Kejriwal further questioned the timing of the notice as a move to stop him from electioneering ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2024, the party sources said, reported ANI.

According to sources Kejriwal is ready to cooperate in ED investigation but the ED notice is illegal. Sources claim that the agency intends to arrest Arvind Kejriwal as they want to stop Kejriwal from the election campaign. The AAP has questioned the timing of the notice just before the 2024 elections.

The Delhi CM was first called by the central agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose, alleging that the notice was "vague, motivated and unsustainable in law."

He further alleged that the said ED summons appeared to be politically motivated and issued for extraneous considerations.

Kejriwal was issued the second summons by the ED on December 18, asking him to depose at the federal agency's office on December 21, which the Chief Minister skipped.

Kejriwal was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, last year.

In February 2023, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi's new excise policy. The policy was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the opposition. AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was also arrested in the same scam in October 2023.

(With inputs from ANI)