'Politically Motivated, Illegal': Kejriwal Replies To ED Summons On Delhi Liquor Policy Case

This is the second time Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal called the summons "illegal" after he skipped the previous one in which the ED asked him to appear before it on Nov 2.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has replied to the Enforcement Directorate saying the summons issued by the agency is "illegal" and "politically motivated", reported news agency ANI. He said that he is ready to reply to any legal summons and he has "nothing to hide". The summons was issued to him in the Delhi liquor policy case.

"This ED summon is also illegal like the previous summon issued by the agency. ED should withdraw this summon as it is politically motivated. I have lived my life with honesty and transparency. I have nothing to hide," the CM was quoted as saying by the agency.

Kejriwal has already left for an undisclosed location for a 10-day Vipassana meditation course on Wednesday. According to PTI, officials said that he was scheduled to leave on Tuesday but could not do so as he was busy with the I.N.D.I.A bloc meeting. 

The CM left at around 1.30 pm on Wednesday for the pre-scheduled meditation course, officials said, quoted PTI.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party questioned the timing of the summons, saying the party's lawyers are studying the notice and "legally correct" steps will be taken. They said Kejriwal's Vipassana session was "pre-scheduled" and the information was already in the public domain.

"Everyone knows the chief minister is leaving for Vipassana on December 19. He regularly goes for this meditation course. It's a pre-scheduled and pre-announced plan," PTI quoted AAP MP Raghav Chadha as saying.

The agency issued the second summons to the Delhi Chief Minister on Monday asking him to appear before it in connection with the Delhi excise policy case on Dec 21. The previous summons had asked Kejriwal to appear on Nov 2, which he skipped calling it "illegal, politically motivated" and an attempt to hinder his campaigning in the poll-bound states. 

While responding to the previous summons, Kejriwal demanded the "recall" of the summons, describing it as "vague, motivated, and unsustainable in law", news agency PTI reported.

He had said that summons were sent for "extraneous considerations at the behest of the BJP." He had claimed that the notice was "leaked" to BJP leaders before its issuance and was part of an orchestrated effort to tarnish his image.

The ED had summoned Kejriwal to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are currently in judicial custody in connection with the same case.