Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has skipped the third summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear before the agency on Wednesday for questioning in connection with the Delhi excise case.
The AAP is alleging that the charges are a conspiracy by the central government to arrest Mr. Kejriwal before the Lok Sabha election. The BJP is hitting back saying the AAP leader is scared of getting arrested like his party colleagues.
Mr. Kejriwal in a letter sent to the ED on Wednesday reiterated that the summons are “motivated” and appear to be a “fishing exercise” because the agency has not answered his queries about the earlier summons.
Fishing exercise
Mr. Kejriwal said in the letter, “I am surprised that you have once again sent identically worded summons in the same format as before without giving any response to my earlier replies dated 02.11.2023 & 20.12.2023. Therefore, I assume that you do not have any valid reason or justification for issuance of these summons.”
He said that he reiterated his firm commitment to the rule of law and unflinching undertaking to render any co-operation in any investigations that may be as per law, fair, just and expedient. “However, as stated above, your silence confirms my apprehensions about certain vested interests and extraneous as well as mala fide considerations prevailing over any objective, rational, fair or impartial inquiry or investigations,” the letter read.
Mr. Kejriwal said that he is occupied with the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in Dehi and Republic Day preparations.
“In these circumstances, I hope that you shall act as per law by transparently and fairly, considering my objections as raised and indicated in my earlier responses. In the meanwhile, I would be happy to respond to any questionnaire if you seek any information/documents, which are in my knowledge/possession,” he said.
Ignored two summons
Mr. Kejriwal was first summoned by the ED on November 2, but he did not appear for questioning and wrote to the ED that the summons was “unsustainable in law” and “motivated.”
He was summoned for the second time to appear before the ED on December 21, but did not appear again and wrote to the agency that the summons was at the behest of his political rivals and not in consonance with law and requested the agency to withdraw the summons.
The case against the AAP leader is based on a FIR by the CBI alleging irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22). The policy was withdrawn after allegations of corruption.
Following a summons by the CBI, Mr. Kejriwal appeared before the agency on April 16 and he was questioned for nine hours. Speaking to the media after the questioning, the Chief Minister alleged that the entire case was fabricated and agencies had no proof, and the case was built to bring the AAP down.
Two senior AAP leaders — Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh — are in judicial custody in the case. Mr. Sisodia, who was Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, the ED arrested Mr. Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.
