Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third time on January 3 in connection with a money laundering case linked to now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.
Enforcement Directorate sends third summon to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He has been asked to appear before ED on 3rd January.
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2023
(File pic) pic.twitter.com/B1pwtwWHNy
The central probe agency issued its second summons on December 18, asking the Delhi CM to appear on December 21. However, he decided not to appear before the officials and said that they were issued at the behest of political rivals who wanted to silence the voice of the opposition ahead of the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier on Thursday, Kejriwal called the summons ‘illegal’ and ‘politically motivated’, saying that he has nothing to hide. “I am ready to accept every legal summon. However, this ED summon is also illegal and politically motivated, like the previous summons. Summon should be withdrawn. I have spent my life with honesty and transparency. I have nothing to hide,” Kejriwal said.
He was initially summoned by the central probe agency on November 2 while he was campaigning for the Assembly elections in five states. He submitted a letter to ED asking the agency to take back the summons.
Earlier in the day, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court dismissed the bail application of AAP MP Sanjay Singh in connection with the money laundering case linked with the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy. Special Judge M K Nagpal rejected Singh's bail plea.
Senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other leaders including Sanjay Singh, have been arrested in the same case. The excise policy was reportedly implemented by the Delhi government on November 17, 2021, but it was scrapped at the end of September 22 following allegations of corruption.