National Desk, 7th March: A Delhi court has summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear on March 16 following a fresh complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED seeks Kejriwal’s trial for allegedly evading summons in the money laundering case related to irregularities in the now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi excise policy.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra directed Kejriwal to appear physically in court after taking note of the complaint. This directive comes after an earlier summons for him to appear on the same date in connection with a separate ED complaint filed on February 3.
The ED argued that Kejriwal’s failure to comply with the summons constitutes an offense under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with disobeying a legal order. The agency claimed that Kejriwal’s reasons for non-appearance were frivolous, hindering the investigation.
Despite the court’s previous directive for Kejriwal to appear on February 7, he had skipped five summons since November 2 before appearing virtually on February 17, citing the ongoing budget session as the reason for not appearing physically. However, he has since missed three more summons.
In response to the ED’s initial complaint, Kejriwal wrote a letter on Monday expressing readiness to answer questions via video conferencing after March 12. The ED accused Kejriwal of intentionally ignoring summons and raising frivolous objections. The investigation focuses on the role of various individuals, including Kejriwal, in the excise policy, and tracing the proceeds of the alleged crime.
It’s noteworthy that while Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh have been arrested in connection with the case, Kejriwal has been mentioned in ED charge sheets but not named as an accused.
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