ED issues 6th summons to Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case

NEW DELHI, (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has issued the sixth summons to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning him in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Wednesday.

The 55-year-old politician, who is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been asked to depose before the federal agency on February 19.

Acting on a complaint filed by the ED for disobeying its summons in this case, a Delhi court last week had asked Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17 and noted that prima facie the AAP chief was ”legally bound” to comply.

In its complaint, the ED claimed that Kejriwal was summoned for probe on numerous occasions in order to unearth the role of others, including him, and to trace further proceeds of crime in the ongoing investigation.

The agency claimed that Kejriwal intentionally disobeyed each summons and made each of such omission or disobedience a separate offence.

This is the sixth summons in this case by the ED to the former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer.

He was earlier called on December 21 and November 2 in 2023 and January 3, January 18 and February 2 this year.

The chief minister always called these notices as ”illegal”.

Kejriwal’s name has been mentioned multiple times in charge sheets filed by the ED in the case. The agency has said the accused were in touch with him regarding the preparation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh apart from communications in-charge of the party Vijay Nair and some businessmen have been arrested in this case by the ED till now.

The ED had claimed in its charge sheet that the AAP used ”proceeds of crime” to the tune of about Rs 45 crore in its Goa election campaign.

The agency is also expected to file a fresh supplementary charge sheet in the case and may name the AAP as a ”beneficiary” of the alleged kickbacks that were generated through the excise policy.

It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). (PTI)