Delhi excise policy case: ED issues 9th summon to CM Arvind Kejriwal, asks him to appear on March 21
Synopsis
A day after a Delhi court granted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in two complaints filed by the Enforcement Directorate for skipping summons, fresh and 9th summons were issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate on Sunday.
The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday has issued ninth summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. This comes one day after Kejriwal appeared in court in Delhi and was given bail for failing to comply with the ED's summons to conduct an investigation into the subject. The Delhi Chief Minister has so far skipped all of the summons issued to him, dubbing them "politically motivated and illegal".
ED had moved the court against Kejriwal's non-compliance of the summons. The AAP supremo was granted bail by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court against arrest for skipping probe agency summons on a bail bond of Rs 15,000 and a surety of Rs 1 lakh in the money laundering case.
Kejriwal's lawyer Ramesh Gupta requested the court to allow Kejriwal to leave and continue the arguments. ED did not object to the request. The court listed the matter for next hearing on April 1. The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra also allowed Kejriwal to leave the courtroom. "Offence being bailable, accused Arvind Kejriwal is admitted to bail," it said.
The Enforcement Directorate had previously filed two petitions with the magistrate court, requesting that Kejriwal be prosecuted for allegedly ignoring many summonses that were sent to him about the matter.
The latest complaint pertains to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor, not honouring summons number 4 to 8 sent by the federal probe agency under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Notably, Kejriwal has ignored the Enforcement Directorate's eight summonses to him. In a reply to his last summons, Kejriwal told the federal agency's officials that they could record his statement via video conferencing after March 12.
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