Arvind Kejriwal skips probe agency’s 6th summons, AAP says ‘matter in court now’
NEW DELHI, FEB 19 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the sixth summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it for questioning in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.
In a statement, the AAP reiterated that the summonses sent to Kejriwal were “illegal” and said the issue was “now in court”.
“The Enforcement Directorate itself approached the court. Instead of sending summons again and again, the ED should wait for the court’s decision,” the party said.
On February 14, the probe agency issued its sixth summons to Kejriwal, asking him to appear before it on February 19.
According to sources, the probe agency filed a complaint against Kejriwal under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for intentionally disobeying the first three summonses issued to him.
Enforcement Directorate sources said the court took note of Kejriwal skipping summonses and the court, thereby, accepted that the AAP supremo committed an offence for which he is liable to be prosecuted.
“The question in front of the court is not about the validity of the summonses, rather the illegal act on the part of Kejriwal of intentionally disobeying the said three summonses,” they added.
The AAP supremo has skipped all the probe agency’s summonses so far, alleging that they were “ïllegal” and “politically motivated”. The earlier five were issued on February 2, January 18, January 3, December 22, 2023 and November 2, 2023.
On February 17, a Delhi court allowed Kejriwal to appear before it physically on March 16 in connection with the Enforcement Directorate’s recent complaint against him for skipping five summonses in the excise policy case, after he cited a debate on a trust motion in the House.
Addressing the court via video conferencing, the Chief Minister said that due to the confidence motion discussion in the Delhi Assembly and the Budget session slated to end on March 1, he could not physically appear before the court.
The AAP supremo said he would be available to appear after March 1. Following this, the court fixed 10 am on March 16 as the next date for Kejriwal to physically appear before it.
On February 7, Kejriwal was asked to appear before the court after the Enforcement Directorate had filed the complaint against him on February 3 for not complying with the previous summonses issued to him in the liquor policy case. The court said the AAP supremo was “legally bound” to comply.
The complaint was filed under Section 174 of the IPC for non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant and Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
-PTI
