Arvind Kejriwal Challenges Summons in Sessions Court Over Delhi Excise Policy

Arvind Kejriwal Challenges Summons in Sessions Court Over Delhi Excise Policy

A few days before he is scheduled to appear in person before the magisterial court regarding a non-compliance complaint brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal filed a motion in a Delhi Sessions Court against the summons served on him by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. The arguments regarding the case are scheduled to be heard by special judge Rakesh Syal of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court today. Kejriwal was instructed to appear in court on March 16th. To start proceedings against Kejriwal under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for failing to appear before investigators despite multiple summonses sent to him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, the ED had approached the magistrate court on February 3 and March 6.

A person who ignores a summons from a public officer may be sentenced to up to one month in jail and a fine of ₹500 under Section 174 of the IPC. So far, on March 4, February 26, February 19, February 2, January 18, January 3, and December 22 and November 2 of last year, Kejriwal has received eight summonses from the federal investigative agency requesting that he participate in the probe into an alleged money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor excise policy case. On the first charge, which was filed after he ignored five summonses, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra ordered him to physically appear before the court on February 17. The Delhi Chief Minister, however, made an appearance via video conference and stated that he was unable to appear in person because of the House confidence vote and the then-current Delhi budget session.

In response to Kejriwal’s plea, Malhotra set a hearing for March 16 and excused him from making a personal presence that day. In the meantime, the ED approached the court with a second complaint after he skipped three more summons. Malhotra acknowledged receipt of the second allegation and ordered Kejriwal to personally appear in court on March 16. In its lawsuit, the ED said that Kejriwal was deliberately ignoring its summons and making “frivolous” objections and that he had no legal right to know if he was being called as a witness or an accused in the Delhi liquor excise policy case.

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According to the agency, Kejriwal was called in to investigate the possible involvement of multiple individuals, including himself, in the purported excise policy fraud and to track down the money obtained from the claimed offense. The federal agency has previously detained Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, two prominent Aam Aadmi Party members, and filed six charge sheets in connection with the investigation into the suspected corruption in the Delhi excise policy 2021–2022. Although Kejriwal is included in the ED charge sheets, neither the ED nor the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into the case in tandem, have designated him as an accused person.