A summons has been issued to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by a Delhi Court following a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The summons pertains to Kejriwal's alleged non-compliance with previous summonses in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged liquor policy scam.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra of Rouse Avenue Courts has directed Kejriwal to appear before the court on February 17. The court has taken cognizance of the complaint filed by the ED against Kejriwal for his failure to adhere to the earlier summons.

The court stated that Arvind Kejriwal was legally obligated to personally attend in response to the ED summons but allegedly failed to do so.

It noted that prima facie, an offense under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 had been established, and there were adequate grounds to initiate proceedings against Mr. Arvind Kejriwal under Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The court ordered the issuance of a summons to the accused Arvind Kejriwal for the offense under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, scheduled for February 17, 2024.

The ED has filed a new complaint case against CM Kejriwal for his failure to comply with the summons served to him in the money laundering case. Over the past four months, the ED has issued five summonses to Kejriwal concerning the case. However, the CM has chosen to disregard the summons, asserting that they are illegitimate.

ED has filed a fresh complaint case under Section 190 (1)(a) of Cr.P.C. read with Section 200 of the Code, Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Section 63 (4) of PMLA, 2002.

CM Kejriwal has skipped the ED summons issued for November 02 and December 21 last year, as well as those issued for January 03 and January 18. He has labeled the summons notices as "illegal."

In connection with the money laundering case, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh have been arrested and are currently in judicial custody. ED has leveled allegations, asserting that a conspiracy was orchestrated to allocate a 12 percent business profit to specific private companies through the implementation of the excise policy. Notably, this stipulation was purportedly absent from the minutes of meetings of the Group of Ministers.

The Central agency has asserted that a conspiracy was orchestrated by Vijay Nair and several other individuals, in collaboration with the South Group, to provide wholesalers with extraordinary profit margins. According to the agency's claims, Nair was representing the interests of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.

Image source: Hindustan Times