New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appeared via videoconference before a Delhi court which granted him exemption from personal appearance for the day in connection with an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate against him over non-compliance with its summons. The ED's summonses were connected to a money laundering case stemming out of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy.
When the petition came up for hearing before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra, Kejriwal presented himself before the court via videoconferencing. He sought the court's exemption from physical appearance for the day citing his presence which is required in the Delhi Assembly session.
The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) convenor informed the court that his schedule was pressed due to the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly. Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who represented Kejriwal, said the Delhi CM will appear in person during the next date of hearing.
Recording the submissions, the Judge adjourned the matter to March 16.
According to the ED, the Delhi CM has been intentionally avoiding the summonses served by the central agency. "He did not want to obey the summonses and kept on giving "lame excuses". If a high-ranking public functionary like him disobeyed the law, it would "set a wrong example for the common man i.e. the "Aam Aadmi"," the agency's rhetorical submission in the petition read.
It is pertinent to note that the Judge has earlier said there are sufficient grounds for proceeding against the AAP leader.
"From the contents of the complaint and the material placed on record, prima facie offence under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is made out and there are sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused Arvind Kejriwal," the judge said.
"Accordingly, issue summons to accused Arvind Kejriwal for the offence under Section 174 of the IPC for February 17, 2024," the judge added.
Section 174 of the IPC relates to non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant. On February 3 , the central agency filed a fresh complaint case against Kejriwal for non-compliance of its summonses. Kejriwal had earlier written to the ED, multiple times, terming the summonses issued to him as "illegal and politically motivated". His primary allegation is that the summonses were aimed at stopping him from campaigning in the elections. His party has been vocal about the ED's action and cite it as the means by the ruling dispensation to arrest Kejriwal and effectively curtail him from participating in the general elections which are round the corner.
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