Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday to be questioned in a money laundering case related to Delhi’s excise tax policy, party sources said.

On Wednesday, the Education Department issued a new fifth summons against Kejriwal, after he skipped four previous summonses issued by the federal agency in the past four months.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has remained tight-lipped on whether the Delhi chief minister will appear before the probe agency, sources in the party said he may skip the summons this time too.

AAP maintains that its legal team is studying the summons issued to Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy-related money laundering case.

Kejriwal is scheduled to join a protest outside the BJP headquarters on Friday with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann against alleged cheating in the Chandigarh mayoral election.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won a resounding victory in the Chandigarh mayoral election on Tuesday, dealing a setback to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, both members of the Indian bloc. The AAP-Congress jointly accused the presiding officer of tampering with votes.

Kejriwal skipped ED summons on November 2 and December 21, 2023, and January 3 and January 18 this year. He called the notices “unlawful.”

The Delhi government’s excise policy for issuing licenses to liquor traders in 2021-22 was said to have allowed cartelization and favored certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes for the purpose, but the AAP has repeatedly refuted the charge.

The policy was later repealed and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)