The Delhi High Court has issued a fresh notice to Arvind Kejriwal after the Enforcement Directorate challenged his acquittal in two matters involving the Aam Aadmi Party leader. The notices concern his non-appearance before the agency despite summons in the excise policy case.
The Delhi High Court issued a new notice to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal in petitions filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging his acquittal in two separate matters.
The notices relate to his failure to appear before the agency despite summons being issued in the excise policy case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that, as per the court registry, the earlier notice sent to Kejriwal had not been served. The ED’s counsel informed the court that notice had been issued on April 1, but no one had appeared on Kejriwal’s behalf.
The judge said, and the matter was scheduled for hearing on July 22,
“Registry reports that (he is) not served. I will issue fresh notice. Respondent has not been served,”
The ED’s complaints before the trial court argued that Kejriwal had intentionally ignored summons issued to him by not participating in the probe. It further alleged that he raised baseless objections and deliberately created circumstances that prevented him from attending the investigation.
In the High Court, the ED’s counsel had previously submitted that the trial court committed a grave error by acquitting Kejriwal even though there was no dispute that the summons were issued, duly received, and yet Kejriwal did not appear before the agency.
In its January 22 orders, the trial court concluded that the ED had not established that Kejriwal intentionally disobeyed the summons.
The trial court held that,
“Neither the service of summons through emails has been proved by the ED nor the process of issuing summons to any person under Section 50(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) via email has been proved to be in accordance with the law.”
The ED also claimed that the other accused in the case were in contact with Kejriwal while shaping the excise policy later scrapped that allegedly resulted in undue benefits and kickbacks for the AAP.
Kejriwal is currently on interim bail in the money laundering case. The Supreme Court has referred questions regarding the need and necessity of arrest under the PMLA to a larger bench for a detailed examination.
Separately, on February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia, and 21 others in the liquor policy case, holding that the CBI case could not withstand judicial scrutiny and was discredited in its entirety. The CBI’s challenge to that discharge order remains pending before the High Court.
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