New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a third summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on January 3 in the excise policy-linked money laundering investigation, official sources said Friday. By issuing the fresh notice under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the federal agency has also rejected Kejriwal's contention that the summonses were "not in consonance with the law" and hence be withdrawn.
The agency, according to the sources, believes that the summonses sent to the Delhi chief minister were "well within the PMLA procedures and law and there are no special exceptions for any person under this criminal law." Considering his official duties and current engagement in a personal Vipassana mediation session in Punjab, the summonses are "issued with reasonable time gap", the sources said.
The chief minister has been asked to depose on January 3 at the agency headquarters in Delhi, the sources said. This is the third notice to Kejriwal, also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), after he refused to appear before the federal agency on two earlier summonses issued for November 2 and December 21.
The agency wants to record his statement in the case and may also confront him with "evidences" seized by it during searches. Reacting to the fresh ED summons to Kejriwal, AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the agency's action seems more of political posturing of the Centre than a legal process.
In a post on X, Bharadwaj said, "Everyone knows that Hon'ble CM Arvind Kejriwal is in Vipassana. The ED knows well that he can't be served summons while he is without any communication during 10 days meditation." "This summons appears more of a political posturing of the central government than a legal process," he added.
Earlier, Kejriwal had alleged that the ED summonses were issued at the behest of political rivals who wish to silence the voice of the opposition in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In his reply sent to the ED on Wednesday, the 55-year-old leader said the summons did not specify whether he was being called as "a witness or a suspect" or as the "chief minister, Delhi, or the Aam Aadmi Party's national convener". The ED has mentioned Kejriwal's name multiple times in its charge sheets filed in the case and said the accused were in touch with him regarding the preparation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
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 the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
