Delhi High Court Asks ED for Response on Kejriwal’s Plea Against Summons in Excise Policy Case
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to reply to a plea from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He’s contesting the summons he received regarding the Delhi excise policy case.
Kejriwal is contesting the part of Section 2(1)(s) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that includes political parties. This section defines who can be covered by the PMLA.
A Division Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain didn’t give an official notice because the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned whether the plea was valid.
During the hearing, the court asked Kejriwal’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, why the Chief Minister wasn’t going to the agency for questioning.
Singhvi replied that they fear the ED might arrest him, and the Chief Minister is willing to appear if provided with protection.
The Bench asked, “You’re a citizen of the country, and the summons is addressed to you by name. Why aren’t you showing up?”
Singhvi mentioned that the agency had also arrested AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in a similar manner.
He emphasized, “This is the new approach.”
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju and Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain represented the ED, stating that the petition is not acceptable.
Raju pointed out that Kejriwal is contesting the summons, and there are several court rulings supporting the agency’s decision not to issue a notice at this point.
“I’m saying that a notice can’t be issued at this stage because he’s contesting the summons… This is just the stage of summons… The petition isn’t acceptable… I’ll demonstrate why it’s not acceptable. Please allow us some time to file a response,” Raju explained.
After hearing the arguments, the Court granted the ED two weeks to respond regarding the acceptability of the petition.
The next hearing for the case is scheduled for April 22nd.
Kejriwal has been summoned for questioning by the federal agency nine times. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor opted not to attend the summons on each occasion.
He described the agency’s summons as malicious and accused the government of misusing it for political reasons.
The ED has filed two complaints against Kejriwal to enforce the summons. He was granted bail by the trial court in the case on March 16.
On March 15, Kejriwal’s request to halt the proceedings in the ED’s case before the sessions court was dismissed.
The ED’s investigation into money laundering originates from a case initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17, 2022, regarding suspected irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.
The CBI case was filed based on a complaint lodged by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022.
It’s been claimed that there was a criminal conspiracy involving AAP leaders, such as former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and other unidentified private individuals or entities during the formulation of the policy.
The alleged conspiracy is said to have arisen from intentional loopholes left or created in the policy. These loopholes were purportedly designed to benefit certain licensees and conspirators after the tender process.
Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh are currently in jail as part of the case.
On March 15, 2024, the ED also arrested the daughter of Bharat Rashtra Samiti legislator and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, K Kavitha in the case.
NEW DELHI: City Businessman Nitin Shah, charged with hiring underworld don Babloo Srivastava to kill his business rival Lalit Suneja, Read more
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday acquitted underworld don Babloo Srivastava and his close aide Nitin Gunwant Shah, Read more
The Economic Offences Wing of The Mumbai Police has filed an FIR against Birla Power Solutions, a Yash Birla Group Read more
NEW DELHI: The first information report filed recently against Mukesh Ambani and others by the Delhi anti-corruption bureau alleges that Read more
