Delhi liquor policy case: No-show after five summons, Kejriwal gets call from ED again

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the liquor policy scam case. This is the sixth summons to the Delhi chief public prosecutor in the case.

Kejriwal has been asked to appear at the agency’s headquarters in the national capital. While two of his senior party leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in jail, he has so far not participated in the investigation, although he has been summoned five times.

Earlier on February 7, a Delhi court asked Kejriwal to appear before the Education Ministry on February 17 for skipping summons in a case related to the GST policy, noting that prima facie, the AAP was responsible People are “legally obligated” to comply.

Additional chief metropolitan justice Divya Malhotra said Kejriwal “allegedly failed” to appear before the investigation agency Enforcement Directorate and was charged under Section 174 of the IPC (failure to comply with civil servants’ order) to summon him.

In its complaint, the ED said the Delhi chief minister was deliberately unwilling to comply with the summons and kept giving “lame excuses”. The agency said if a senior public official like him violated the law, it would “set a wrong example for the common man, i.e. Aam Aadmi”.

Kejriwal skipped five summonses,

On February 2, Kejriwal skipped a fifth citation from the Department of Education, prompting the agency to file a new complaint against him for failing to comply with the citation.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener had earlier written to the ED calling the summonses “illegal and politically motivated”. He claimed their aim was to prevent him from running in the election.

In its complaint, the ED claimed that further investigations were underway to uncover the role of others, including Kejriwal, and to trace further proceeds of crime, for which he was summoned several times for investigation.

“Arvind Kejriwal was legally bound to appear in person as required by the said summons at the place and time mentioned in the summons issued by the complainant being a public servant but he willfully disobeyed the summons and deliberately failed to comply with the summons at the place and time mentioned in the summons or time to attend,” the complaint states.

It added that it was evident from Kejriwal’s reply that his intention was “to disobey the summons and to create false excuses to conceal” such intention to disobey the summons.

The agency alleged that Kejriwal “willfully disobeyed” each summons, “making each such disobedience or disobedience a separate criminal act.”

The complaint alleges that Kejriwal committed three separate offenses by willfully absenting himself and failing to appear in court on October 30, December 18 and 22 last year. It is said that the education department is likely to file a separate complaint against Kejriwal for evading summons on January 12, 2024.

Allegations over Delhi’s excise policy

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

The policy was subsequently repealed and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi recommended a CBI probe, following which the education ministry registered a case under PMLA.

(with PTI input)