ED summons Delhi CM Kejriwal for seventh time

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) issued a seventh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, asking him to appear before the agency on February 26. This follows a sixth summons issued on February 14, in connection with a money laundering investigation related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case.

Kejriwal has previously skipped five summons, labeling them as 'illegal and politically motivated.' The ED intends to record Kejriwal's statement on the formulation of policy, meetings held before its finalization, and bribery allegations.

The case is based on a First Information Report alleging multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The policy was withdrawn following corruption allegations.

In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his alleged aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED had claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth Rs 45 crore generated via the policy as part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.
Two senior AAP leaders -- Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh -- are already under judicial custody in the case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning and on October 5, the ED arrested Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.