New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) response on plea moved by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal challenging several summons issued to him by the agency. Replying to HC, ED said “we will reply and we oppose it on maintainability grounds”. Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhari appeared for Kejriwal and also objected to the ED’s submissions opposing the plea on maintainability grounds. Court fixed the hearing for April 22, 2024. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Delhi High Court challenging all summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.
According to the legal team of the Delhi Chief Minister, all nine summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have been challenged. The plea called these summons unconstitutional and illegal. The plea has also challenged the vires of several provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Last week, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Rouse Avenue Court granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal on two complaints filed by ED for non-compliance with summons issued by the agency. During the hearing, Kejriwal appeared physically before the court.
According to the ED, the agency wants to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalized, and allegations of bribery. In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED 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.
The now-scrapped excise policy was aimed “at revitalizing the city’s flagging liquor business” and replacing a sales-volume-based regime with a licence fee for traders. Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had ordered a probe into alleged irregularities in the policy. AAP has accused Saxena’s predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in 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. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.