Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, 2 November, indicated that he will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the probe agency's liquor excise policy case.
Kejriwal demanded that the ED recall the summons that had been issued to him, calling it "vague", "motivated", and "unsustainable in law".
"The said summons does not specify whether I am being summoned as an individual or in my official capacity as Chief Minister of Delhi or as National Convenor of AAP and appears to be in the nature of a fishing and roving inquirt," Kejriwal wrote in his reply to the ED notice accessed by The Quint.
"The said summons appear to be motivated and issued for extraneous considerations. Simultaneous to the summons, in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started making statements that soon I would be summoned and arrested. By the evening of that day, I received your summons," Kejriwal alleged.
Heavy security has reportedly been deployed in parts of the national capital with the expectation that Kejriwal would go to the ED's office on Thursday.
But instead, Kejriwal will reportedly take part in a election rally in Madhya Pradesh along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
- 01/02
Tight security arrangements outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi.
(Photo: PTI)
- 02/02
Security personnel at a premises linked to Delhi Cabinet Minister and AAP leader Raaj Kumar Anand during a raid by Enforcement Directorate officials on Thursday.
(Photo: PTI)
Meanwhile, the central investigation agency conducted raids on Thursday at the Civil Lines residence of Delhi Cabinet Minister Raaj Kumar Anand. Nine other premises linked to the AAP leader were also searched, according to Hindustan Times.
'A Plan To Get Kejriwal Arrested': AAP's Raghav Chadha
AAP on Wednesday, 1 November, claimed that Kejriwal will be the first to be arrested as part of the BJP's plan to target top INDIA coalition leaders ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In a press conference, party leader Raghav Chadha said, "Delhi has 7 Lok Sabha seats. We all know that if the INDIA bloc contests the Lok Sabha elections, BJP is going to lose all seven seats of Delhi. This has made the ruling party so fearful that it is now planning to arrest the opposition leader and first on the list is Arvind Kejriwal."
"BJP's plan is - Arvind Kejriwal ko jail me daalo, 7 seat Delhi ki apni jeb me daalo (Put Arvind Kejriwal behind bars and win 7 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi)," Chadha said.
Earlier this week, former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia was denied bail by the Supreme Court in connection with the ED's probe of the alleged liquor excise policy scam. Sisodia faces money laundering and corruption charges and has been in jail since February 2023.
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