Excise policy case: ED issues summons to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for fourth time, asks to join probe on Jan 18

The fresh summons to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal follows the third summons which he skipped last week.

New Delhi: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has issued a summon to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for fourth time in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 case asking him to join the investigation on January 18.

The fresh summons to Delhi CM follows the third summons which he skipped last week.

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Kejriwal has so far skipped summons issued by the ED on three occasions including on January 3, November 2 and on December 22, calling them “illegal and politically motivated.” The ED wants to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalized, and allegations of bribery.

While skipping the third summons issued by the ED, Kejriwal termed it “illegal”, saying he was ready to cooperate, but the agency’s intention was to arrest him and stop him from election campaigning.

The case against the Aam Aadmi Party supremo is based on a First Information Report (FIR) alleging multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22) by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The policy was withdrawn after allegations of corruption.

In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED has claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth Rs 45 crore generated via the policy as part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.

On Kejriwal’s role, one of the six charge sheets filed in January 2023 states that Kejriwal told businessman Sameer Mahendru that former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair “is his boy” and that he should trust him.

The excise policy was aimed to revitalize the city’s flagging liquor business and replace a sales-volume-based regime with a license fee for traders. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.

Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s move to order a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime prompted the scrapping of the policy. The AAP has accused Saxena’s predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.

Two senior AAP leaders — Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh — are already under judicial custody in the case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning and on October 5, the ED arrested Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.