ED Issues Seventh Summon To Arvind Kejriwal; AAP Calls It Vendetta After SC Chandigarh Mayoral Poll Verdict

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for the seventh time in a row in connection with the ongoing probe into the alleged liquor excise policy scam. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor has been asked to appear before the agency on February 26, this seventh summon came after Kejriwal skipped the sixth summon by ED for February 2. AAP has maintained that the summons are illegal asserting the case is pending before the court.

AAP has called the seventh summons as the fall out of the Supreme Court verdict on the Chandigarh mayoral polls in which their party candidate Kuldeep Kumar was declared the winner after the bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud scrapped the controversial counting by the Presiding Officer Anil Masih, who had defaced 8 ballot papers, “deliberately”, to help BJP candidate Manoj Sankar win.

"Ever since the Supreme Court gave its order on the Chandigarh Mayoral polls, we have been getting information regarding arrests and raids that are likely to happen by the ED and CBI. Because BJP wants to take revenge for the AAP's win in Chandigarh, and the way the Supreme Court has upheld Indian democracy. The summons to Kejriwal by ED is just an attempt to take revenge for what happened in Chandigarh," said AAP leader Atishi.

Apart from the February 2 summon, the Delhi Chief Minister had previously skipped summons on January 19, January 3, December 21, and November 2.

Delhi Dy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were arrested by ED in connection with the same probe into the alleged liquor policy scam. AAP had called the arrests politically motivated and had recently claimed that AAP MLAs were approached by BJP with money offers so that Kejriwal’s government could be toppled. BJP had dismissed the allegations, asking for proof.​