A Delhi court has acquitted former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in two cases lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo skipping the agency’s summons.
The ED was seeking action against Kejriwal for failing to appear before it despite the summons in connection with the Delhi Excise Police case. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order. A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited.
The same court has also acquitted AAP’s Okhla MLA, Amanatullah Khan, in a separate ED case in which he was accused of skipping the central probe agency’s summons. The probe on Amanatullah Khan was in connection with the Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case.
What was the ED charge?
The ED moved the Court in February 2024 against Kejriwal for his non-compliance with the summons issued by the agency under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Kejriwal had not appeared before the central agency, despite five summons being issued to him on different dates in connection with the probe into the alleged scam.
The Delhi excise policy case
The ED’s probe into money laundering contentions stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17, 2022, in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. The CBI case was registered on a complaint made by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022.
The ED subsequently registered a case on the money laundering angle against the accused persons on August 22, 2022. Kejriwal was later arrested in the main case and was ultimately granted bail by the Supreme Court.
