A Delhi court has directed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear on February 17 and explain why he has skipped five summons from the Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating alleged money laundering linked to the liquor excise policy scam case in the national capital.
The court on Wednesday was hearing the complaint filed by ED for non-compliance to the summons issued to him in connection with the ongoing probe in the Delhi Liquor Excise policy 2021-22.
Kejriwal so far has skipped five summons issued by the ED – on November 2, 2023, December 22, 2023, January 3, 2024, January 18, and February 2. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra said that she has taken cognisance of the ED’s complaint and summons are being issued to Kejriwal.
In 2023, Kejriwal skipped the summons citing other work, vipassana. But when he skipped the 5th summons, Kejriwal was in Delhi and continued to maintain that the summons were illegal and politically motivated.
Apart from the alleged liquor scam, the ED is also probing a case of the Delhi Jal Board. On Tuesday, the ED conducted raids at 12 locations including those connected to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar and the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha member ND Gupta.
