Legal team studying summons, will take decision as per law: AAP on fresh ED notice to Arvind Kejriwal

After the Enforcement Directorate issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said its legal team is studying the notice and will take a decision in accordance with law.

The ED has issued the fifth summons to Kejriwal for questioning in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said.

It is understood that the fresh summons was for February 2.

In a brief statement, AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, "We have received news about the fifth summons. Our legal team is studying it and we will decide what to do as per law. The earlier summonses were illegal and we had sought a reply from the Enforcement Directorate."

Kejriwal, also the national convenor of the AAP, has skipped four earlier summons issued by the ED for November 2 and December 21 in 2023 and January 3 and January 18. He had called these notices "illegal".

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).