A Delhi court granted permission for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend in person on March 16 in relation to the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint against him for missing five summonses in the excise policy case. Kejriwal mentioned a trust motion debate in the House as the reason for his absence.
The probe agency issued the sixth summons to Kejriwal on Wednesday. Speaking through video conferencing, the Chief Minister explained that he was unable to appear physically before the court due to the ongoing confidence motion discussion in the Delhi Assembly today.
He stated that he had intended to attend today, but the confidence motion unexpectedly arose. The Budget Session is currently in progress and will continue until March 1. Any date after that can be scheduled,” he said.
Subsequently, the court scheduled the next appearance for Kejriwal at 10 am on March 16.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was summoned to appear before the court today following a complaint filed by the ED on February 3 regarding his non-compliance with the summonses related to the liquor policy case.
The complaint was filed under Section 174 of the IPC for failure to comply with an order from a public servant and Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
After the court’s decision, Kejriwal’s lawyer Ramesh Gupta addressed news agency ANI and informed that the Chief Minister had submitted an application for exemption from personal appearance, which was granted by the Rouse Avenue court.
Gupta further mentioned that Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, did not oppose the application.
“If everything proceeds smoothly, Kejriwal is expected to appear before the court on the next hearing date and should also be granted bail in the matter,” Gupta added.
Weeks after accusing the BJP of attempting to “poach” AAP MLAs in an effort to overthrow his government in Delhi, Kejriwal presented a confidence motion in the Delhi Assembly on Friday.
During his address to the Assembly, the Chief Minister criticized the BJP-led central government and referred to the attempt to “poach” his party MLAs as “another Operation Lotus”.
Regarding the repeated summonses by the ED, Kejriwal has consistently maintained that they are “illegal attempts” to arrest him and are aimed at hindering his campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.