The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday summoned Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal for the sixth time in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy case. He has been summoned to appear before the ED on February 19.
Kejriwal has skipped all the five summonses earlier issued to him by the probe agency.
The AAP supremo was first summoned by the ED in October 2023 to appear for questioning on November 2. Citing governance-related work in Delhi ahead of Diwali along with party campaigns in then poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, he had skipped the summons.
Also Read: Excise policy case: Delhi court summons Kejriwal on February 17 after ED’s complaint
For the second summons, the CM had said he had to attend a Vipassana session.
Citing Rajya Sabha elections, Republic Day celebrations and the ED’s ‘non-disclosure’ and ‘non-response’ approach, he skipped the third summons as well.
At the time of the fourth summons, AAP had said Kejriwal was in Goa to attend a pre-scheduled programme between January 18-20.
The fifth summons was skipped by Kejriwal on February 2. The AAP has slammed the agency’s actions as “politically motivated” and “unlawful”. “PM Modi’s aim is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal and topple the Delhi government. We will not allow this to happen,” the party had said in earlier statements.
The AAP chief had been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case in April last year but had not been made an accused by the agency.
Also Read: Enforcement Directorate raids Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary, other AAP officials
After Kejriwal skipped the fifth summons, the ED filed a complaint against him in a Delhi court. The court asked Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17.
While the ED has sought to question Kejriwal in the case related to the AAP government’s now-scrapped excise policy, the Delhi CM has called the summons “illegal”. Questioning the summons, he has said that he has not been named as an accused in the case.
Three senior AAP leaders – former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair — have already been arrested by the ED in the case.
Also Read: Delhi excise policy ‘scam’: CM Arvind Kejriwal skips 5th ED summons
Both Sisodia (February 26, 2023) and Singh (October 4, 2023) were arrested the same day they were questioned. The AAP had earlier alleged that the ED now wants to arrest Kejriwal in a similar manner.