Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Seven months after the CBI questioned him, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal to appear before its investigators on Thursday in connection with its money laundering probe in the liquor scam case in which his top aides are already in custody for months.
The ED summons came amid election season and hours after the Supreme Court denied bail to former Deputy Chief Minister and Kejriwal's close aide Manish Sisodia, saying that the accusation of "windfall gains" of Rs 338 crore to wholesale liquor dealers was "tentatively supported" by evidence. AAP Rajya Sabha floor leader Sanjay Singh is also in custody in this case.
Sources said the chief minister has been summoned to appear before its investigators to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This is the first time Kejriwal has been called by the agency.
Responding to the summons, Delhi Minister and senior leader Saurabh Bharwaj claimed that it is getting clear that the Union government has only one aim and that is to somehow finish the AAP. “They are not leaving a stone unturned in framing a false case to put the chief minister in jail and to finish AAP,” he said.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said the CM will have to answer the questions of the ED and he cannot make wishy-washy statements. Earlier in the day, BJP had demanded Kejriwal’s resignation following the denial of bail to Sisodia.
The CBI had on April 16 questioned Kejriwal for nearly nine hours in this case as a "witness" and was posed 56 questions, including about how the work on the policy started and other issues. While Sisodia was arrested on February 26 this year, Singh was taken into custody on October 4.
The ED case was registered on the basis of a CBI FIR filed on August 17 last year in which Sisodia was named among others. The CBI had conducted raids in the case on August 19 last year at Sisodia's residence, former Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna's premises, and 19 other locations across seven states and Union Territories.
In its chargesheets, the ED had mentioned Kejriwal’s name multiple times based on statements given by other accused. It claimed the accused were introduced to him by his close aides, including Singh, regarding the preparation and execution of the now-scrapped excise policy.
Earlier this year, TRS leader and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha was questioned by the ED in this case.