GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 31st Jan. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in relation to the liquor excise policy case.
This is the fifth time Kejriwal has been summoned, with previous summons sent on November 2, December 21, January 3, and January 13. If Kejriwal fails to appear as summoned, the probe agency can request an arrest warrant from the court.
Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, had previously skipped the first four summons, citing prior commitments such as a meditation retreat and claiming that the agency’s calls were illegal and aimed at arresting him before the general election.
After the third summons, he criticized the agency’s actions as politically motivated and illegal. The first summons was missed because Kejriwal was campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh election.
After receiving the fourth summons, Kejriwal and the AAP questioned why the Chief Minister was called if he had not been named as an accused in the case. They suggested that this was an attempt to prevent him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.
Kejriwal was previously questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for nine hours in April last year but was not made an accused in the case.
Two senior members of his government, including his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia, have been arrested in relation to the case.
The Delhi liquor case involves allegations that the AAP government’s alcohol sales policy allowed it to receive kickbacks from cartels, which were then used to fund election expenses in Goa and other states. Both the ED and the CBI have claimed that the policy facilitated cartelization and favored certain dealers who paid bribes for liquor sale licenses.
The AAP has denied all charges and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of manipulating the central agency to target them.
The Delhi government reported a 27% increase in income from the policy, generating 8,900 crore in revenue.
