Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging summonses by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy case.
Kejriwal called these summonses “unconstitutional and arbitrary”. The matter will be heard on Wednesday by a division bench of the High Court.
The federal probe agency has issued the ninth summons to Kejriwal to appear for questioning on March 21 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
The AAP’s Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai, when asked about the summonses to Kejriwal, said, “It is beyond understanding when will the ED stop serving the political agenda of BJP. The ED served notices and the chief minister replied to them saying they were illegal. The ED went to court against him. When the matter is in court, what is the urgency of sending another notice,” he asked.
If the BJP wants to arrest Kejriwal, they do not need summons, Rai said, adding, “They can arrest him anytime.” “If you believe in the Constitution and law, wait for the court’s decision. We are also waiting. The court will hear the matter on April 1,” the AAP leader said.
The agency said it has conducted searches at 245 locations across the country since the registration of a case in 2022 and has arrested 15 persons, including AAP leaders Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and some liquor businessmen. It has filed a total of six charge sheets in this case till now and has attached assets worth over Rs 128 crore.
The ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.
The policy was subsequently scrapped and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the irregularities in its formulation and implementation. Later, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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