Excise policy 'scam': Delhi High Court asks ED to respond to Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging summons

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response of the Enforcement Directorate on a plea by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal challenging summons issued to him on the agency’s complaint in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri refused to stay the trial in the criminal case and said the trial court’s order, which has been challenged by Kejriwal, is two months old and not a fresh order.

The high court issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the petition which has challenged the summons issued to the former chief minister of Delhi on the complaint filed by the agency in the case.

Kejrwal’s counsel questioned the maintainability of the complaint on the grounds that while summons were issued by one officer, the complaint was filed by another officer.

The former Delhi chief minister has challenged a sessions court’s September 17 order which had dismissed his plea challenging the summons.

During the hearing, the ED’s counsel raised a preliminary objection on the maintainability of the petition.

He contended that Kejriwal's plea was a second revision petition which has been filed under the garb of Section 482 of CrPC and the same was barred in law.

He argued that the grounds raised in this petition were identical to the one filed before the trial court.

Kejriwal’s lawyer contended that when summonses were issued to the AAP leader by one ED officer of assistant director rank, the complaint could not have been filed by another ED officer of the same rank.

The lawyer said the officer, who had signed the summonses was available but still the complaint was filed in the court by another officer.

“He (Kejriwal) has served the period for which they (ED) can punish him. Three summons were issued by one Joginder Singh who is assistant director of ED. But the complaint was filed by another assistant director (Sandeep Sharma)…. The challenge is with respect to whether he could have filed the complaint,” Kejriwal’s counsel said.

The high court listed the matter for further hearing on December 19.

Kejriwal had moved the sessions court against an order passed by a magisterial court directing him to appear before it on the ED's complaint.

He had challenged the summons issued by the magisterial court after taking cognisance of two complaints filed by the ED over avoidance of summons issued to him.

The ED had filed complaints before the magisterial court seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for skipping multiple summonses issued to him in the case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on July 12 in the money laundering case. He was released on bail by the apex court in the CBI case on September 13.