Arvind Kejriwal Skips 7th ED Summon; AAP Says Won’t Buckle Down Before BJP

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal skipped the seventh consecutive summon by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in connection with a probe into the ‘now scrapped’ excise policy. Kejriwal has termed the summon illegal, stating the matter now pending before the court and expected to come up for hearing on March 16.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has termed it BJP’s pressure tactics to force them to leave the INDIA alliance. The party has previously alleged that BJP with the use of central agencies is trying to topple Kejriwal’s government in Delhi. The probe into the alleged money laundering over the excise police that was introduced by the Kejriwal government during 2021-22 also says the arrests of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.

ED’s first summon to Kejriwal was for November 2 last year which he had skipped stating prior engagements and thereafter all the other summons including December 21, January 3, January 18, February 2, February 19 and now February 26 have been skipped by the AAP convenor.

Apart from the February 2 summon, the Delhi Chief Minister had previously skipped summons on January 19, January 3, December 21, and November 2. AAP had recently claimed that their MLAs were approached by BJP with money offers so that Kejriwal’s government could be toppled. BJP had dismissed the allegations, asking for proof.​