Excise policy case: Production warrant issued against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal; check details

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, presiding over the case, has directed that Chief Minister Kejriwal must appear physically in court on Friday, coinciding with the end of his extended judicial custody period.

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday (July 9) issued a production warrant against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and summoned to his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after taking cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). This charge sheet is related to the ED's ongoing money-laundering probe concerning the erstwhile excise policy of the AAP government in Delhi.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, presiding over the case, has directed that Chief Minister Kejriwal must appear physically in court on Friday, coinciding with the end of his extended judicial custody period.

Additionally, Judge Baweja acknowledged an eighth supplementary charge sheet, which names Vinod Chauhan and Ashish Mathur as additional accused. The court issued a production warrant against Chauhan and summons to Mathur, requiring their physical presence on the same day as Kejriwal.

Earlier, on July 4, the court had reserved its decision on taking cognisance of the seventh and eighth supplementary charge sheets until July 9. The seventh charge sheet specifically includes Kejriwal as a named defendant.

The Enforcement Directorate's charge sheet implicates the Delhi Chief Minister based on alleged conversations with 'hawala operators' regarding the proceeds of crime associated with the liquor policy case.

These purported chats were reportedly retrieved from devices belonging to the 'hawala operators' after Kejriwal's arrest on March 21. Kejriwal had been arrested following his failure to comply with multiple ED summons and refusal to provide access to his device passwords.