Busy with Rajya Sabha election & Republic Day preparations, Kejriwal tells ED to send questionnaire

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has yet again skipped the Enforcement Directorate summons in the purported liquor scam case. This is the third time that he has skipped the summons served by the ED for questioning. The CM wrote back a letter to the central probe agency citing technical provisions of invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, while also holding the summons as motivated and as having issued for vexatious considerations.

New Delhi:After skipping the Enforcement Directorate summons for a third time in connection with the Delhi excise policy, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the probe agency to send its questionnaire to him since he is busy in the run-up to Rajya Sabha elections and Republic Day Celebrations.

“It is a matter of concern that despite my comprehensive response(s) bringing to your notice critical dimensions and legal objections involved in issuing summons to me to appear ‘in person’ in your purported exercise of powers under Section 50 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (‘PMLA’), you have chosen not to respond,” the Delhi CM wrote in the letter.

He cited the election to three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi, where the terms of office of the incumbents will expire on January 27, 2024. "Being National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, I am held up in the process and run up to these critical elections," the AAP chief said.

"Being the Chief Minister of Delhi, I am also quite occupied in planning and preparations for several programmes and functions for the Republic Day i.e., 26th January 2024," the CM said.

"Would be happy to respond to any questionnaire" if the agency seeks any information or documents, which are in his knowledge or possession, the Delhi CM said.

In his reply to the summons through his legal team, Kejriwal has vehemently snubbed the 'malafide' intentions behind probe agency's move. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a statement said that the Delhi CM is ready to cooperate with ED, but the notice sent to him smacked of a ploy to arrest him so as to stop him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.

The party alleged, "Why has the notice been sent right before elections? The notice is an attempt to stop Kejriwal from campaigning in elections."

Earlier, on November 2 and December 21, 2023, the ED had sent summonses to Kejriwal. However, he declined to appear before the federal agency on both the occasions.

Notably, Kejriwal avoided interrogation during the initial summons on November 2, claiming that the notification was "illegal" and "politically motivated."

In response to the second summons, Kejriwal alleged that the ED was working in tandem with the BJP dispensation at the Centre which wanted to silence the Opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The summonses, he said, were "politically motivated."

However, ahead of second summons, he headed for Hoshiarpur, Punjab for Vipassana. The Delhi CM spent 10 days meditating and returned on December 30.

The ED had earlier arrested Kejriwal's party mates Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in the case.

Reacting to the third summons, Kejriwal's cabinet colleague Saurabh Bhardwaj smelt a rat, adding that it was a political conspiracy. Incidentally, Kejriwal was interrogated in the case by the CBI in April last year.

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