Arvind Kejriwal skips 6th summon; ED files fresh complaint against Delhi CM

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the Enforcement Directorate's sixth summons for questioning in connection with the excise policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party has labeled the summons as illegal and stated that the Enforcemnt Directorate should wait instead of issuing summons as the matter is currently being contested in court.

The AAP Chief received the ED’s summon on February 14, instructing him to appear before the central agency on February 19 after the AAP Chief had skipped the 5 previous summons. Following his failure to appear for questioning on February 2, the Enforcement Directorate had filed a complaint against him and approached a city court, citing sections 190 and 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The complaint alleges non-compliance with the summons issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and failure to participate in the ongoing investigation.  The court had summoned Kejriwal on February 17 underscoring his legal obligation to participate in the Central agency’s probe. Arvind Kejriwal appeared before the Delhi Court via video conferencing citing the ongoing Delhi budget session. The Rouse Avenue Court directed Kejriwal to appear in person on March 16. The Enforcement Directorate lodged a complaint under section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Kejriwal for deliberately disregarding the initial three summonses issued to him in this matter. The court acknowledged this complaint and preliminarily recognized that Kejriwal had committed an offense warranting prosecution.

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Kejriwal was initially summoned on November 2, but he rejected the summons, citing it as "vague, motivated, and unsustainable in law." Instead, he traveled to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh to address a political rally. He was then called for questioning on December 21, which he skipped and attended a 10-day Vipassana meditation course at a center in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district. He received four summons this year, on January 3, January 18, February 2, and February 19.

The Bharatiya Janata Part was quick to it out at Kejriwal for his non-compliance with the Central agency. “Today, Kejriwal demonstrated his disrespect for the law the sixth time by evading ED summons …Do you remember Hemant Soren, who had skipped 10 ED summons? He finally had to face the ED’s questions and was arrested after he couldn’t answer them…you will need to face the ED too one day,” said Delhi BJP Secretary Harish Khurana.

The ED is investigating allegations of money laundering linked to the Delhi liquor excise policy. It is alleged that the AAP government’s revised alcohol sales policy enabled kickbacks from cartels, which were allegedly used to fund election expenses in several states, including Goa. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have been arrested in connection with this case.

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