ED Summons To Kejriwal: Cong's Sandeep Dikshit Asks Delhi CM To Appear For Probe As AAP Targets BJP

The national convener for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, was summoned for questioning in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case on January 18.

After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was summoned for the fourth time by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with excise policy case, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that Kejriwal should go and put forth his views. Dikshit mentioned that when Congress President Malikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi were summoned, they appeared before the agency.

The national convener for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kejriwal, was summoned for questioning in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case at the headquarters in Delhi on January 18.

Meanwhile, AAP leader Sushil Gupta, while speaking to ANI, claimed that the ED issued summons after Kejriwal announced that he was going to Goa to address a public meeting. Gupta alleges that it is to prevent Kejriwal from campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The 55-year-old Kejriwal declined to appear before the ED for the third time on January 3, citing the agency's "non-disclosure and non-response approach" as insufficient in meeting the standards of law, equity, or justice. He argued that the ED's "obstinacy" amounted to taking on the roles of judge, jury, and executioner.

Previously, the chief minister had been summoned to provide testimony on November 2 and December 21 in 2023. After the initial summons it has been speculated that the Delhi CM would be detained after being questioned by the agency. 

The issuance of the new notice by the ED indicates a reaffirmation of their dismissal of Kejriwal's claim that the summons served to him were "not in consonance with the law" and, as a result, should be withdrawn.

Commenting on this, AAP leader and Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said that the ED should avoid becoming a “'frontal organisation" of the BJP and stop sending these illegal notices to Arvind Kejriwal”.

Rai said that on January 12 CM Arvind Kejriwal announced his schedule to Goa from January 18 to 20 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, and now the summons has been issued.

“This is not a coincidence. This is to prevent Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. ED should avoid becoming a frontal organisation of BJP and should stop sending these illegal notices to Arvind Kejriwal,” Rai told the media, according to ANI.

In April, the Chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the case, yet no charges were filed against him in connection with the matter.

The agency is likely to submit a new supplementary charge sheet in the case, possibly implicating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a "beneficiary" of the purported kickbacks stemming from the excise policy.

It is alleged the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which granted licenses to liquor traders, facilitated cartelisation and favored specific dealers who allegedly paid bribes. The AAP has consistently denied these allegations.

However, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena scrapped the policy and recommended a CBI probe, leading the ED to register a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

After which, the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 9, 2023 while, Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was arrested on October 4, 2023 by the enforcement agency under the PMLA.