On Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received a fourth summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear in court on an alleged Delhi excise policy case. On January 18, he has been requested to appear before the central investigative agency, according to sources.
The summons was issued on January 3, following the Chief Minister of Delhi’s third refusal to appear before the ED.
In relation to the suspected Delhi liquor scam case, the ED sent CM Kejriwal a third summons on December 22 of last year, requesting that he appear before the agency on January 3.
In relation to an excise policy issue, the ED had earlier invited Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal on December 18, requesting that he come before the central agency on December 21 for questioning.
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The government agency initially requested that the Delhi Chief Minister appear on November 2, but he declined, claiming that the notice was “vague, motivated, and unsustainable in law.”
In response to the ED, Kejriwal skipped the third summons from the investigative agency and stated that he was willing to assist with the probe. However, he refused to show up on the scheduled date and referred to the notice as “illegal.”
Kejriwal also questioned the agency about why it hadn’t replied to his previous responses on the agency’s probe into the nature of the summons that he had received.
“As a premier investigating agency, the non-disclosure and non-response approach adopted by you cannot sustain the test of law, equity, or justice,” the Delhi CM wrote in his written response to the ED. Your intransigence amounts to taking on the roles of judge, jury, and executioner simultaneously, which is unacceptable in a nation where the rule of law is upheld.”
In April of this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also called the Chief Minister of Delhi on the matter. On August 17, last year, the CBI filed its first information report (FIR), although Kejriwal was not included as an accused.
Manish Sisodia, Arvind Kejriwal’s deputy, was detained by the CBI in February 2023 on suspicion of irregularities in the formulation and execution of Delhi’s recently canceled excise policy. The opposition accused the government of foul play, leading to the policy’s withdrawal.