A Delhi court has acquitted former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in two cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate over alleged non-compliance with summons in the excise policy matter. The court ruled that Kejriwal cannot be prosecuted merely for skipping ED summons, with the detailed order awaited.
A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in two cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly skipping summons issued to him in the Delhi excise policy matter.
The order was passed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Courts. The court cleared Kejriwal of the allegations relating to non-appearance before the ED. A detailed copy of the judgment is yet to be released.
The cases were filed by the ED in February 2024, accusing Kejriwal of not complying with multiple summons issued to him under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to the agency, Kejriwal did not appear before it despite being called several times in connection with the investigation into the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
The ED had issued five summons to Kejriwal on different dates, asking him to join the investigation. However, he chose not to appear before the central agency, which led the ED to approach the trial court seeking action against him for non-compliance.
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The money laundering investigation by the ED is based on a case earlier registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI had lodged an FIR on August 17, 2022, alleging irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for the year 2021–22.
The CBI case itself was registered following a complaint made by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022. After this, the ED stepped in and registered a separate case on August 22, 2022, to probe the alleged money laundering angle linked to the excise policy matter.
During the course of the larger investigation, Kejriwal was arrested in the main excise policy case. He later approached the apex court and was eventually granted bail by the Supreme Court of India.
With the present order, the Delhi court has cleared Kejriwal in the two cases related specifically to the ED’s complaint over non-appearance in response to summons. The detailed reasoning of the court will be known once the full judgment is made public.
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