Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summon related to a money laundering investigation linked to purported irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), news agency PTI reported.
The AAP accused the BJP government at the Centre of using the ED to target Kejriwal and stop him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls.
ED issued summons to CM Kejriwal under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the Delhi Jal Board case.
"Delhi CM and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before ED today. When there is bail from the court, why is ED sending summons again and again? ED summons are illegal," AAP stated.
As Arvind Kejriwal skips summons, BJP leader Harish Khurana said: "Once again CM Kejriwal has proved that he has no respect for law. ED summoned him in the Delhi Jal Board case. However, he is deliberately evading it...He might be hiding something since he is running from ED..."
Kejriwal is currently under scrutiny and has been summoned for questioning in the Delhi liquor policy case. Kejriwal has skipped eight summonses so far. On March 17, a Delhi court granted him bail in a case initiated by the ED for failing to adhere to its summons. He has been summoned once more for March 21.
ALSO READ | Top Electoral Bond Buyer, 'Lottery King' Santiago Martin Donated Rs 509 Cr To This Party
What Is Delhi Jal Board Case?
In February this year, the ED carried out raids at various locations in Delhi, Varanasi, and Chandigarh regarding the DJB case, including locations associated with Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar and AAP Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta. Retired DJB chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal have been arrested by the probe agency in connection with the case.
The ED's investigation stems from a CBI FIR concerning suspected corruption and bribery in the DJB. It alleges that a contract for installing electromagnetic flow meters was awarded to a company at inflated prices.