New Delhi, Mar 16:
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today appeared before a court in the national capital in the Enforcement Directorate summons case.The city’s Rouse Avenue Court later granted him bail in the case filed by the agency for skipping its summonses. This was the first time Kejriwal appeared before the court physically, in connection with the case. At the last hearing, he appeared via video conferencing.
The Enforcement Directorate has filed two complaints against Kejriwal for disobeying their summonses to join the probe in the Delhi excise policy case. It wants to record Arvind Kejriwal’s statement on topics like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised and allegations of bribery.
However, Kejriwal has been skipping the summonses, saying they were illegal and politically motivated.
“The court directed Arvind Kejriwal to furnish a bond and surety bond for the sum of ₹50,000. Both bonds were furnished and Kejriwal was allowed to go. After that we moved an application for supply of copies under 207 and 91 CrPC for which reply and arguments – the date is fixed for April 1,” advocate Ramesh Gupta revealed.
Six charge sheets have been filed in the Delhi excise policy case as of now. In its sixth charge sheet, the ED named AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra and claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth ₹45 crore generated via the policy as part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.
Last week, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate took cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate’s second complaint and issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his personal appearance before the court on March 16.
AAP leader Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in jail over similar charges. The party claims the Centre wants ED to arrest Arvind Kejriwal so that the latter can’t campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
