ED moves Delhi court against Arvind Kejriwal for not complying with summons in Delhi Excise Policy case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached a court in Delhi against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for not complying with the central agency's summons in the Delhi excise policy case..The complaint case has been filed by ED for non-attendance in compliance with Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act which lays down powers of ED regarding summons, production of documents etc.The case was heard by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra today. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared and made submissions for ED. The court has put up the matter for further consideration on February 7..Kejriwal has chosen not to appear before the central agency despite issuance of the five summons to him on different dates in connection with the probe into the alleged scam.Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders like Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are already in custody in the same case.AAP has termed the summons issued by ED as "politically motivated" and also claimed that the central agency was planning to arrest the Chief Minister..The caseThe ED’s probe into money laundering contentions 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.