Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested against the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Rajghat after the CM decided to skip today’s summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The agency had summoned Kejriwal in connection with the alleged Delhi Liquor scam case.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva, Leader of the opposition Delhi Legislative Assembly and BJP leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and other leaders were present during the protest.
The Delhi Chief Minister will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate today, 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.
Earlier, the Delhi Chief Minister questioned the legality of the Enforcement Directorate 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 said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect in the above-mentioned case. Please recall the said summons, which is to say the least is vague and motivated and I am advised, unsustainable in law,” Kejriwal stated in his letter to the 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.
“Today, the people of Delhi want answers…If there was no corruption in the new liquor policy then why did you go back to the old policy? Today, no court is giving relief to you.” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala 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)
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