Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 2: The Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal skipped appearing before the Enforcement Directorate and demanded withdrawal of the summons claiming it to be “illegal and politically motivated” and within hours left for Singrauli for campaigning in the Madhya Pradesh state Assembly elections.
The Delhi Chief Minister’s Office said in the reply to the probe agency’s notice, Mr Kejriwal, who was summoned for questioning in connection with the alleged liquor scam, said the summon was “illegal, politically motivated” and aimed at preventing him from campaigning in the poll-bound states. It was also “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law,” Mr Kejriwal has alleged while claiming the notice was sent to him for extraneous considerations at the behest of the BJP. According to official sources, the ED is now expected to issue fresh summons to him.
The BJP and Congress leaders on Thursday took potshots at Kejriwal for skipping the Enforcement Directorate summons. While BJP’s Sambit Patra called Kejriwal “an ocean of corruption,” Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, the son of the former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, remembered ‘the Kejriwal of the Anna movement’ and said he appeared to be scared and running away.
In his letter to ED, Mr Kejriwal questioned in what capacity was he called for questioning by the probe agency. “The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect.” He also said the notice failed to provide details or reasons for him being called for questioning and termed it a “fishing and roving” exercise by the ED. “The said summons does not specify whether I am being summoned as an individual or in my official capacity as Chief Minister of Delhi or as national convenor of AAP,” Mr Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister also claimed that the notice appeared to be motivated.
“Simultaneous to the summons, in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started making statements that soon I would be summoned and arrested. By the evening of that day, I received your summons. “It is thus apparent that the said summons was leaked to select BJP leaders to malign my image and reputation and has been issued at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre,” Mr Kejriwal charged.
He claimed that BJP MP Manoj Tiwari had “openly” said on the afternoon of October 30 — the day the summons was issued to Mr Kejriwal — that the Chief Minister would be arrested. Mr Kejriwal said he is the Chief Minister of Delhi as well as the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and is required to travel as a “star campaigner” of his party to Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana where Assembly polls are to be held this month.
Also, he stated his official commitments as Chief Minister of Delhi for which his presence was required, particularly in view of the Diwali festival in the second week of November, and asked the ED to recall its summons to him. ED sources indicated that a fresh date for summoning Mr Kejriwal could be issued for a closer date as the Supreme Court has recently taken note of the prosecution’s assurance that the trial in the case will be concluded within the next 6-8 months.
The Central agency had summoned Mr Kejriwal for questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Mr. Kejriwal’s party colleagues Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are already in judicial custody in this case.
The AAP had alleged that Mr Kejriwal would be the first to be arrested as part of the BJP’s plan to target top INDIA alliance leaders ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the ED summons were an attempt to finish the party that is in power in Delhi and Punjab.
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 the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
Later addressing a rally at Singrauli, Kejriwal said he could be arrested by the time the elections results are announced. “Standing in Delhi, they are threatening every day that they will arrest Kejriwal…. It doesn’t matter if he arrests us, Kejriwal is not afraid of going to jail. You will arrest Kejriwal’s body… how will you arrest Kejriwal’s thoughts? You will arrest this one Kejriwal… how will you arrest thousands, lakhs and crores of Kejriwals?” he said.
When Sandeep Dikshit’s mother Sheila Dikshit was the chief minister of Delhi, Kejriwal had launched a massive agitation against her Congress government at the Centre, demanding setting up of an anti-corruption body, Lokpal. Congress general secretary Abhishek Dutt also attacked Kejriwal. “If the ED has summoned you, and you know you are right, then join the investigation. Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have done it in the past. Have the courage to fight BJP,” he said.
The BJP spokesman Sambit Patra called him “ocean of corruption.” “Today you don’t want to appear before the Enforcement Directorate and ask how in what capacity have you been called? You have been called by ED as you are the ocean of corruption, as the source of corruption from which corruption emerges in Delhi,” Patra told reporters.