New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was scheduled to appear before the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, has skipped the summons, according to party sources. He will instead go to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh for election campaigning. The summons came six months after he was questioned for nearly nine hours by the CBI in the excise policy scam case.
"He will be going to Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli where he will take part in a roadshow along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He will leave for Madhya Pradesh in a while," a party source said.
Sources 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.
Kejriwal on Thursday wrote to the ED, demanding that the probe agency withdraw its notice, summoning him for questioning, claiming it was "illegal and politically motivated".
The Delhi Chief Minister's Office said that in reply to the ED notice, Kejriwal has termed it as "illegal and politically motivated" and aimed at preventing him from campaigning in the poll-bound states.
Kejriwal also alleged that the notice was sent to him at the behest of the BJP.
Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the case in February this year. The ED arrested Sisodia in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar jail.
His bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this week.
After his questioning by the CBI in April in the alleged liquor scam, during which he was asked about 56 questions, Kejriwal had termed the entire case "fabricated" and an attempt to finish the AAP.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate are probing the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22 that allegedly favoured certain liquor dealers, an allegation that the AAP has strongly denied.
Based on a report of the chief secretary of the Delhi government, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe in July last year into alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the policy.
The report cited various alleged irregularities including a waiver of Rs 144 crore to the retail licensees under the policy in the name of COVID-19-impacted sales and a refund of Rs 30 crore to a successful bidder for the airport zone who failed to obtain a no objection certificate for opening liquor stores there, officials said.
Another allegation was that the commission of wholesale licensees was raised from five per cent to 12 per cent in an instance of "quid pro quo", they added.
(With PTI inputs.)
