Kejriwal skips ED summons; demands recall of summons, calls it motivated; AAP, BJP engage in verbal duel

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a case linked to the now scrapped Delhi excise policy and wrote to the Central agency demanding the “recall” of its summons to him, calling it “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law”.

The reply of the CM is being examined by the ED, official sources said and indicated that a fresh date for Kejriwal could be issued for a closer date as the Supreme Court has recently taken note of the prosecution’s assurance that the trial in the case will be concluded within the next 6-8 months.

The central agency had summoned Kejriwal for questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA.

Kejriwal’s party colleagues Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case.

The Delhi Chief Minister’s Office said that in reply to the probe agency’s notice, Kejriwal has alleged that the summons were “illegal, politically motivated” and aimed at preventing him from campaigning in the poll-bound states.

Calling the summons “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law”, Kejriwal also claimed that the notice by the ED was sent to him for extraneous considerations at the behest of the BJP.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal travelled to Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli where he took part in a roadshow along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

As per the PMLA, a person can ignore an ED summons three times and after that, the ED has the option of seeking a non-bailable warrant (NBW) from a court.

“The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect,” the chief minister said and added that the notice failed to provide details or reasons for him being called for questioning.

He also termed it a “fishing and roving” exercise by the Enforcement Directorate.

“The said summons does not specify whether I am being summoned as an individual or in my official capacity as chief minister of Delhi or as national convenor of AAP,” Kejriwal said.

The chief minister also claimed that the notice appeared to be motivated.

“Simultaneous to the summons, in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started making statements that soon I would be summoned and arrested. By the evening of that day, I received your summons.

“It is thus apparent that the said summons was leaked to select BJP leaders to malign my image and reputation and has been issued at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre,” Kejriwal charged.

He claimed that BJP MP Manoj Tiwari had “openly” said on the afternoon of October 30 — the day the summons was issued to Kejriwal — that the chief minister would be arrested.

Kejriwal said he is the chief minister of Delhi as well as the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party and is required to travel as a “star campaigner” of his party to Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana where Assembly polls are to be held this month. Also, he also mentioned his official commitments as chief minister of Delhi for which his presence was required, particularly in view of the Diwali festival in the second week of November, and asked ED to recall its summons to him.

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.

As Kejriwal refused to appear before the ED, the BJP hit out at the AAP national convenor, alleging that he ran away as he did not want to face the truth.

On its part, the Aam Aadmi Party alleged there was a “political conspiracy” by the BJP, claiming that opposition leaders were being deliberately targeted.

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that “It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the Delhi liquor scam kingpin has accepted that he was involved in liquor scam and corruption” Patra said that ED issues summons based on facts and evidence but Kejriwal is running away from facing the probe agency’s questions because he knows the truth.

“Today it is proved that the one who is ‘kattar’ (outright) dishonest is ‘kattar’ shameless also,” the BJP leader charged, adding “ED doesn’t send summons randomly. We firmly believe that ED or any other agency sending summons to Kejriwal was based on some grounds.” Hitting back at the BJP, the AAP said that there was a “political conspiracy” by the BJP Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “How did BJP MP Manoj Tiwari in his interviews with a news agency say that Kejriwal will be arrested? This means that this is a political conspiracy.

“There are five states where elections are happening and being the national convener, Kejriwal has to go for campaigning.” Bharadwaj alleged that it was a “political conspiracy” by the BJP and claimed that they were targeting leaders from opposition parties.

The AAP’s Delhi state convener Gopal Rai urged the BJP to stop the “misuse” of investigative agencies.

“Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent a reply to the ED’s summons. He demanded that it be recalled. But the ED’s reply has not come. Instead, BJP spokespersons have started replying to Kejriwal’s letter to ED. Today, it has become difficult to differentiate ED from BJP and vice-versa,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP leaders staged a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat on Thursday, demanding Kejriwal’s resignation over the alleged excise policy scam.

“There was a scam of thousands of crores of rupees in the excise policy and even the children in Delhi knew that Kejriwal was the mastermind behind it,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said at the sit-in.