New Delhi [India], March 4 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Supremo Arvind Kejriwal said that he was ready to face questioning by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case and said that if the central agency wants to, it could telecast the questioning live. Earlier today, in response to the eighth summons of the ED which asked CM Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on March 4, he wrote a reply to the central agency stating that its summon was “illegal”, however, he has agreed to appear before the agency virtually on any date after March 12.
“My stand has always been that ED summons are illegal. I have written to them (ED) many times but they have not responded…I have written that I am not hiding anything and am ready to answer all your questions and you can ask through video conferencing. This is my right,” said the CM while addressing the media here. “There is no demand from my side, but if they want, they can telecast the (questioning) live,” he added.
Earlier on February 27, The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) issued an eighth summons to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case, asking him to join the investigation on March 4. The fresh summons to the Delhi Chief Minister followed the seventh summons which he had skipped on February 26.
Kejriwal has so far skipped seven previous summons issued by the ED on February 26, February 19, February 2, January 18, January 3, November 2 and December 22, calling them “illegal and politically motivated”.The ED wants to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.
While skipping the seventh summons issued by the ED, AAP, in a statement, termed it “illegal”, saying that the ED should stop sending summonses and wait for the court’s decision as the probe agency has already approached the court on the matter. A day after Kejriwal skipped the fifth summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate, the agency on February 3 approached a Delhi court against him for “non-compliance with the summons”.
The case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) alleging multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22) by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The policy was withdrawn after allegations of corruption. In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED has claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth Rs 45 crore generated via the policy for part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.
The excise policy was aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business and replace a sales-volume-based regime with a license fee for traders. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.
Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s move to order a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime prompted the scrapping of the policy. The AAP has accused Saxena’s predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
Two senior AAP leaders — Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh — are already under judicial custody in the case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning and on October 5, the ED arrested Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member. (ANI)
