Arvind Kejriwal Skips ED Questioning, Goes Poll Campaigning In MP Instead

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into a matter involving the state's now-cancelled alcohol policy

Updated on: 2 November 2023 2:12 pm

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has chosen not to attend an interrogation in the liquor excise policy case before India's financial crimes agency, citing the summons as "vague and motivated".

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into a matter involving the state's now-cancelled alcohol policy.

Mr. Kejriwal has requested that the ED "recall the summons" in a letter to them, in which he also claimed that the summons is “illegal and politically motivated.”

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Instead, Kejriwal will be campaigning for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Assembly election.

The Delhi Chief Minister questioned why he was being 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. It 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.

On October 30, the day Mr. Kejriwal received the summons, he asserted that BJP MP Manoj Tiwari had "openly" declared the Chief Minister will be taken into custody.

As the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the chief minister of Delhi, Mr. Kejriwal stated that he is obligated to travel to Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana as a "star campaigner" for his party in advance of this month's assembly votes.

In addition, he asked the ED to cancel its summons to him and mentioned his official obligations as Delhi's Chief Minister, for which his presence was necessary, especially in light of the Diwali celebration in the second week of November.

With the AAP accusing the BJP of having a vengeance and attempting to topple it, the ED's decision to summon the chief minister of Delhi has taken a political turn. After Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh, and Raaj Kumar Anand—whose house was raided early this morning—Arvind Kejriwal is the fifth AAP leader involved in a legal dispute.