(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
The BJP accused Kejriwal of "running away" from the probe, "behaving like a fugitive", and the AAP of "creating a ruckus".
Arvind Kejriwal summoned by ED. (X)
After skipping out on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) third summons in the alleged Delhi excise policy case, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal may receive a fourth summons from the investigation agency.
The ED is examining the reply sent by Kejriwal regarding his refusal to appear before the agency and may issue its fourth summons to him to join the investigation, official sources said on Thursday, 4 January.
The 55-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor had refused to depose before the ED for the third time on Wednesday, saying the “non-disclosure and non-response approach” of the agency cannot sustain the test of law, equity or justice, and this “obstinacy” of the ED tantamounts to assuming the role of judge, jury, and executioner.
Sources said that the ED is currently examining Kejriwal’s five-page reply sent to the investigating officer of the case on Wednesday and may reject his charges of calling the summons illegal.
The agency may issue its fourth summons to Kejriwal as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
He was earlier asked to depose on 2 November and 21 December in 2023 and 3 January this year — he declined all three summons.
In a letter addressed to the ED, the AAP leader, on Wednesday, cited Rajya Sabha polls, Republic Day preparations, and the probe agency’s “non-disclosure and non-response approach” as reasons for not appearing before it. He also said he would be “happy to answer” any questionnaire sent by it.
AAP leader Atishi Singh and some other party leaders had, on Wednesday night, posted on X that the ED might raid Kejriwal’s residence and arrest him. “News coming in that ED is going to raid Arvind Kejriwal’s residence tmrw morning. Arrest likely,” she wrote on X.
AAP sources, on Thursday, claimed that the roads leading to Arvind Kejriwal’s residence were blocked and police personnel deployed at all gates as the ED was “gearing up” to raid and arrest the Delhi Chief Minister.
“The roads leading to the Chief Minister’s house have been shut and police personnel are deployed at all the entry/exit gates. Event the staff deployed at the Chief Minister’s house has been stopped from entering,” an Aam Aadmi Party source said.
“The ED is gearing up to raid and arrest Kejriwal,” another source from the party said.
The Delhi Police, however, said that the security around the Chief Minister’s house was beefed up to “manage” media personnel who have gathered there since Wednesday after party leaders claimed that Kejriwal would be raided and arrested.
“No one from the Chief Minister’s staff has been stopped,” another police officer said, terming the increase in the number of police personnel as “general deployment”.
On Wednesday, the AAP claimed that the summonses were sent to arrest Kejriwal as the BJP-led Union government wanted to stop him from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
On Thursday, the BJP accused Arvind Kejriwal of “running away” from a probe after the Delhi Chief Minister skipped the third summons by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, “Aam Aadmi Party leaders are making noises that their Chief Minister may get arrested anytime… They have committed theft and corruption, and now they are creating a ruckus.”
“The investigating agency has given you a chance to testify, but you are running away and behaving like a fugitive,” Sachdeva added.
BJP spokesperson Bansuri Swaraj said that Kejriwal is forgetting that he is not above the law. “The ED has sent three summons, but the Chief Minister is running away from an investigation. He doesn’t want to be involved in the investigation,” Swaraj said.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
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