Arvind Kejriwal moves Delhi HC challenging ED summonses in excise policy case

The matter is set to be heard by a division bench of the Delhi High Court tomorrow, March 20th, 2024. Arvind Kejriwal's plea seeks judicial intervention to address the legality and legitimacy of the summons issued by the ED.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging summonses by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy case. Kejriwal described the summonses as "unconstitutional and arbitrary". The High Court's division bench will hear the case on Wednesday.

The Delhi High Court's division bench is set to convene on Wednesday to hear the plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor, Arvind Kejriwal.  Kejriwal's motion, which represents a critical turning point in the unfolding legal drama, asks the court to intervene in order to resolve the slew of summonses that the ED has issued.

When questioned about Kejriwal's summonses, Gopal Rai, the convener of the AAP's Delhi branch, stated, "It is beyond understanding when will the ED stop serving the political agenda of BJP. The ED served notices and the chief minister replied to them saying they were illegal. The ED went to court against him. When the matter is in court, what is the urgency of sending another notice."

The ED recently issued its ninth summons to Kejriwal, compelling him to appear for questioning on March 21 regarding the excise policy-linked money laundering case. This summons came after Kejriwal was given bail by a Delhi court in response to the ED's charges that he had ignored six of the previous eight summonses.

The ED has earlier pursued Kejriwal's prosecution for noncompliance with the summonses issued in the case, a move that underscored the growing legal impasse between the federal agency and the Delhi CM and attempted to force Kejriwal to appear.