Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal to skip fifth education ministry summons in GST policy case, will join Bhagwant Mann in protest at BJP headquarters

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal will skip the Enforcement Directorate (ED) meeting on Friday regarding matters related to Delhi Excise Tax, party sources said The fifth summons in a policy-related money laundering case.

Delhi Chief Minister is scheduled to take part in a protest today (February 2) along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann against the alleged “poll ki chori” (stealing of votes) in the Chandigarh mayoral election. Kejriwal will lead AAP’s protest outside the BJP headquarters in Delhi at 11 am.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won a resounding victory in the Chandigarh mayoral polls on Tuesday, a setback for India Group member Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The AAP-Congress jointly accused the presiding officer of tampering with votes.

ED summons Kejriwal for fifth time

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

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

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 maintained that its legal team was looking into the summons issued to Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy-related money laundering case.

The Delhi government’s excise policy for issuing licenses to liquor traders in 2021-22 has allegedly allowed cartelization and favored certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes for the purpose, an allegation that has been repeatedly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was later repealed and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).