Delhi court rejects plea by CM Arvind Kejriwal to stay Magistrate summons on ED complaint

A sessions court in Delhi on Friday rejected the plea filed by Delhi Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal seeking stay on the proceedings before the magistrate court in the case filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him for skipping agency's summons in connection with Delhi excise policy case. .Special Judge (PC) Act Rakesh Syal of Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order on a plea by Kejriwal seeking a stay on the proceedings before the Magistrate court. Kejriwal had also sought exemption from personal appearance before the Magistrate court.The sessions court said that the Delhi CM can file an application for the same before the Magistrate court itself. .Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra had issued summons to Kejriwal in two separate complaint cases filed by the ED. While the first summon was issued to him on February 7, the summons on the second complaint was issued to March 7.The ACMM is slated to take up both these matters on March 16.The ED filed the complaint cases against Kejriwal after he repeatedly failed to join the investigation in the excise policy case despite issuance of summons to him under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)Notably, on February 17, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor had joined the proceedings before the ACMM through virtual conference and stated that he will appear before the court in person on March 16.However, just two days before the hearing, Kejriwal chose to file the present pleas before the sessions court challenging both the orders of ACMM by which summons were issued to him on the complaints moved by ED..Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta and advocate Rajiv Mohan appeared for Kejriwal today.Gupta today asserted that it was not as if Kejriwal had skipped any summons issued to him on account of personal reasons. "CM is a public servant and Arvind Kejriwal is a public servant. They say he was summoned in his personal capacity but I will demonstrate from the record that the summons were sent to him in a case which was registered pursuant to an excise Policy which came into being when he was CM ... I never said mujhe apni behen ki beti ki shaadi m jaana hai (Translation: I never said I have to go for a relative's wedding). I said I have my official duties ... I have not failed (to attend summons), i have explained the reason so there is no wilful skipping," Gupta argued. .Senior AAP leaders like Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are already in custody in the Delhi excise policy case.AAP has been alleging that the ED wants to arrest Kejriwal before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections..The ED’s money laundering probe stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17, 2022 in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. The CBI case was registered on a complaint made by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022. The ED subsequently registered a case on the money laundering angle against the accused persons on August 22, 2022.It has been alleged that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia and other unidentified and unnamed private persons/entities during the stage of the policy’s formulation.The conspiracy, it has been alleged, stemmed from some of the loopholes “intentionally” left or created in the policy. These were allegedly meant to favour some licensees and conspirators post the tender process.Kickbacks are alleged to have been paid through hawala channels by a few persons in the liquor business from South India to some public servants of the AAP to achieve the objectives of “monopoly and cartelisation” among liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, according to the central agencies.