Delhi Chief Minister will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after he was summoned in connection with the alleged Delhi Liquor scam case. Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will be travelling to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh where they will address an election rally and stage a road show.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal responds to ED, "…Being the National Convener and a star campaigner of the AAP, I am required to travel for campaigning and to provide political guidance to my field workers of AAP. As the CM of Delhi, I have governance and official commitments for… pic.twitter.com/piPS5D5kMB
— ANI (@ANI) November 2, 2023
Earlier the Delhi Chief Minister questioned the legality of the ED summons issued to him. In a reply to ED on its summons notice on October 30, Kejriwal demanded that the agency withdraw the notice and questioned its legality.
“The summon notice is illegal and politically motivated. The notice was sent at the behest of the BJP. Notice was sent to ensure that I am unable to go for election campaigning in four states. ED should withdraw the notice immediately,” Kejriwal stated in his reply to ED.
The ED’s move to summon the Delhi Chief Minister has taken a political turn with the AAP accusing the BJP of vendetta.
“This is being seen by not only India but the entire world that the Centre is drunk in power and it is so arrogant that it wants to crush every small political party. Aam Aadmi Party is a growing national party, and the BJP Government is trying everything to crush it” AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
The BJP responded saying that the law was just taking its natural cause and the Delhi CM must comply with it.
“The law is doing its work. The ED has summoned him under the law. 2 days ago, the Supreme Court observation regarding Manish Sisodia’s bail said that there is a money trail of Rs. 338 crores. Arvind Kejriwal has to answer this because it is not possible that there is a money trail and he is not aware of it… He has to answer this question. He also has to answer why the excise was increased to 12 per cent from 5 per cent… He is playing the victim card that this is vendetta politics” BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said.
Arvind Kejriwal was earlier summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April this year, in connection with the case.
However, Kejriwal was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, last year.
In February 2023, Arvind Kejriwal’s Deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi’s new excise policy. the policy was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the opposition.
The Supreme Court on October 30 dismissed the bail plea of Manish Sisodia in connection with cases related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy case. The court directed to complete the trial in the case in six to eight months. The court, while refusing bail, also took note of the aspects regarding the transfer of a money trail of 338 crores, which is tentatively established.
(with inputs from ANI)
