Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal skips sixth ED summons

Kejriwal was asked to appear before ED investigators on Monday even as a court fixed March 16 as the date of next hearing on a petition filed by the agency against the AAP chief for not ignoring its five summons earlier.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate for the sixth time for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy, with AAP saying the agency should wait for a court verdict on the validity of its summons.

Kejriwal was asked to appear before its investigators on Monday even as a court fixed March 16 as the date of next hearing on a petition filed by the ED against the AAP chief for not ignoring its five summons earlier.

AAP said the agency's sixth summons to its national convener is "illegal" and said that the latter should wait for the court's decision instead of calling Kejriwal repeatedly. On Saturday, when the case came up for hearing, the court had granted exemption to Kejriwal from personal appearance for the day.

ED officials said it has filed a complaint under section 174 of IPC against Kejriwal on charges of intentionally disobeying the first three summons issued to him. 

They said the court has taken cognisance of the same and the court has prima facie accepted that Kejriwal has done an offence for which he is liable to be prosecuted. 

The question in front of the court is not about the validity of the summons but rather the alleged illegal act on the part of Kejriwal of intentionally disobeying the said three summons, they added.

The court hearing also came on a day when Kejriwal sought a trust vote in the Delhi Assembly, accusing the BJP of trying to topple his government by wooing his party MLAs. BJP had denied the allegations.

The AAP chief was summoned on November 2 and December 21 in 2023 and January 3, January 18 and February 2 this year, but he refused to appear before it, claiming that the ED summons were illegal.

The ED had in court claimed that Kejriwal intentionally disregarded each summons, which were issued as part of a probe into the money laundering case linked to irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

In his letters to ED, Kejriwal has said that the agency's summons was not in consonance with law and sent for "extraneous considerations" at the behest of the ruling BJP to create "sensational news" in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Though not named as an accused in the chargesheet, Kejriwal's name has been mentioned multiple times. The ED had claimed that the accused were in touch with the Chief Minister regarding the preparation of the excise policy.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh among others were arrested in this case by the ED.