Kejriwal skips probe agency's 6th summons

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. "Whatever law is relevant, we are responding. Now, a case has been filed in the (ED) court. The Enforcement Directorate should wait for the result before issuing any fresh summons," Kejriwal told reporters outside the Delhi assembly.

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. 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 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 the repeated Enforcement Directorate summonses, Kejriwal has maintained that they were "illegal attempts" to arrest him and aimed at preventing him from campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP, on the other hand, has alleged that Kejriwal was trying to use the Budget session of the Delhi assembly "as his weapon to escape the investigation of the liquor scam".