Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will once again not appear for the Enforcement Directorate's summons, marking the fifth time he has done so. This is in relation to the ongoing money laundering investigation linked to irregularities in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy.
The recent call for the Delhi Chief Minister to appear followed the fourth call, which he had missed on January 18.
The party labeled the fifth summons as unlawful when they chose to skip it.
"Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before ED today as well. We will comply with the lawful summons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aim is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal and topple the Delhi government. We will not allow this to happen," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said.
Kejriwal has previously missed four summonses from the ED on January 18, January 3, November 2, and December 22, deeming them unlawful and driven by political motives.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is seeking to take Kejriwal's testimony regarding the case, focusing on matters such as policy development, pre-finalization meetings, and allegations of corruption.
Kejriwal, who missed the fourth summons from the ED, labeled it as unlawful, alleging that the agency's aim was to detain him and hinder his election campaign, despite his willingness to collaborate.
"All four notices sent to me (by the ED) are illegal and invalid in the eyes of the law. Whenever such general, non-specific notices were sent by the ED in the past, they were quashed and declared invalid by courts. These notices are being sent as part of a political conspiracy," Kejriwal said having skipped the fourth notice.
The lawsuit revolves around an initial report (FIR) accusing various irregularities in the development and execution of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22) by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The policy was retracted due to corruption allegations.
In its sixth filing in the case on December 2, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) accused AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his associate Sarvesh Mishra of utilizing kickbacks totaling Rs 45 crore, obtained through the policy, for their assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.
The excise policy aimed to rejuvenate the declining liquor business in the city by replacing the previous sales-volume-based system with a licensing fee for traders. The policy promised upgraded stores and an improved purchasing experience, and for the first time in Delhi, it introduced discounts and offers on liquor purchases.
Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena's move to order a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime prompted the scrapping of the policy. The AAP has accused Saxena's predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are already under judicial custody in the case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning, and on October 5, the ED arrested Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.
