Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Cites These Reasons For Skipping ED Summons

After missing the order, the AAP Convenor called the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of being "opaque and arbitrary" and asked the probe agency if it was issuing summons to tarnish his reputation.

Written by: Victor Dasgupta Edited by: Victor Dasgupta

Published: January 3, 2024, 5:50 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/delhi-chief-minister-arvind-kejriwal-cites-these-reasons-for-skipping-ed-summons-6630544/ Copy

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday skipped the third summon issued by the Enforcement Directorate over the Delhi liquor policy case. After missing the order, the AAP Convenor called the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of being “opaque and arbitrary” and asked the probe agency if it was issuing summons to tarnish his reputation.

The Delhi CM wrote a letter to the ED after he skipped the third ED summons in a case of alleged money laundering related to the Delhi excise case for which several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders are being investigated.

CM @ArvindKejriwal‘s Response to ED’s Third Summon

Objections reiterated:

👉🏽 Summons are motivated and issued for vexatious considerations.

👉🏽 From summons, it is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect.

👉🏽 Summons fail to… pic.twitter.com/Qz2GCu1huR

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) January 3, 2024

“Every time, before the summons reaches me, it is already there in the media. This raises questions whether the purpose of the summons is to do any legitimate inquiry or tarnish my reputation,” he wrote.
Kejriwal also questioned the silence of the ED on his response to the probe agency raising legal objections over the summons being issued by the probe agency to him.

“It is a matter of concern that despite my comprehensive response(s) bringing to your notice critical dimensions and legal objections involved in issuing summons to me to appear ‘in person’ in your purported exercise of powers under Section 50 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (‘PMLA’), you have chosen not to respond,” Kejriwal wrote in the letter.

“Your silence confirms my apprehensions about certain vested interests and extraneous as well as malafide considerations prevailing over any objective, rational, fair or impartial inquiry or investigations,” he added further.

He also questioned if ED was assuming the role of judge, jury, and executioner at the same time.
“Your obstinacy tantamounts to assuming the role of judge, jury, and executioner at the same time which is not acceptable in our country governed by the rule of law,” he further added.