ED summons Arvind Kejriwal for third time in liquor policy probe, asks him to appear on Jan 3

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday issued a summon to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case and has asked him to appear before the central agency on January 3.

This is the third summon that has been issued to the Delhi Chief Minister by the central agency.

Kejriwal was earlier summoned by the ED in connection with an excise policy case on December 18, asking him to appear before the central agency for questioning on December 21.

The Delhi CM was first called by the central agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose, alleging that the notice was “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law.” “The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect in the above-mentioned case. Please recall the said summons, which is, to say the least, vague and motivated and I am advised, unsustainable in law,” Kejriwal had stated in his letter to Jogendar, Assistant Director, ED.

He further alleged that the said summons appears to be politically motivated and issued for extraneous considerations.

Arvind Kejriwal was again summoned by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy case on December 18.

However, the Delhi Chief Minister chose to skip appearing before the central agency, stating that it was just to create sensational news in the final months of the parliamentary elections in 2024.

Questioning the timing of the summons, Kejriwal said, “The timing of your summons leaves much to desire and strengthens my belief that the summons being sent to me are not based upon any objective or rational yardstick but purely as propaganda as well as to create sensational news in the final few months of much-awaited parliamentary elections in the country.” Delhi Chief Minister was also summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April this year, in connection with the case.

However, Kejriwal was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, last year. In February 2023, Arvind Kejriwal’s Deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi’s new excise policy. The policy was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the opposition.