Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summon again today. Kejriwal was asked to appear before the ED today in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam.
AAP issued a statement and said intention Kejriwal is ready to cooperate but ED's notice is "illegal".
"Ready to cooperate in ED investigation but the agency's notice is illegal. Their intention is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. They want to stop him from election campaign," AAP said.
This was the third ED notice to Arvind Kejriwal, after he refused to appear before the central probe agency on two earlier summonses for November 2 and December 21.
On December 21, Kejriwal skipped the second summon and headed for a 10-day 'Vipassana' meditation course.
The ED summon pertains to the excise policy-linked money laundering case, for which his party colleagues Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain have been jailed. Satyendar Jain is currently out on bail.
Allegations are that Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act).
