Delhi Excise Policy Case: Arvind Kejriwal asks ED for virtual hearing after March 12

‘Summons is illegal, but ready to answer’, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent a reply to the Enforcement Directorate and asked for a date after March 12 in the excise policy case. Sources informed PTI that the AAP convenor will attend the hearing via video conferencing. 

Kejriwal has been asked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear before the agency on Monday for questioning in connection with the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy for the 2021-22 fiscal year, which has since been scrapped.

Earlier on all the past 7 occasions, Kejriwal has skipped the summons.

The ED has lodged a complaint against Kejriwal for failing to comply with its summons in a Delhi court. The court has exempted the chief minister from personal appearance until March 16. 

Kejriwal had attended the court proceedings virtually, citing his inability to appear in person due to his engagement in the ongoing Budget session of the Delhi assembly.

ED) has alleged that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders received bribes totalling ₹100 crores related to the 2021-22 excise policy, which was put into effect in November 2021. Following a recommendation from Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, the policy was annulled, and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the purported irregularities was initiated.

In one of its six charge sheets, the ED asserted that the excise policy was conceived by Arvind Kejriwal, although he has not been formally charged in the case.

The case currently being investigated by the ED stems from a First Information Report (FIR) alleging numerous irregularities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy (2021-22). The policy was retracted amid accusations of corruption.

In its sixth charge sheet filed on December 2, 2023, the ED implicated AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his associate Sarvesh Mishra. Allegedly, the AAP utilized kickbacks totalling ₹45 crore, purportedly derived from the policy, as part of its electoral campaign in Goa during the 2022 assembly elections.

Two prominent AAP figures, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are already in judicial custody as part of this case. Sisodia, who held the position of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister at the time, was apprehended by the CBI on February 26 after multiple rounds of questioning. Similarly, on October 5, Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, was arrested by the ED.