Arvind Kejriwal yesterday said AAP will do whatever is needed "as per law"
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will skip the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) summons in the excise policy case for the fourth time. The central agency issued the fourth summons to Mr Kejriwal last week, asking him to appear today. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has now replied to the summons, saying that he won't be able to appear before the agency.
Mr Kejriwal is scheduled to visit Goa today to meet party workers and take stock of the preparations for Lok Sabha polls.
"These four notices are illegal and invalid. Whenever such notices are sent by ED, they are quashed by the court. These notices are nothing but just political vendetta. An investigation is being done in this case for two years, but they did not find anything. Why have I been called two months before the Lok Sabha elections?" Mr Kejriwal told the media.
"The BJP's supporters are saying that Kejriwal will be arrested. How do they know? Because BJP is running the ED," he said, reiterating that the BJP wants to arrest him so that he cannot campaign for the Lok Sabha polls due this year.
The AAP, too, hit out at the BJP over the summons to its leader. "ED has said Kejriwal is not an accused, then why is he being summoned? Corrupt leaders go to BJP, their cases are closed. We have not done any corruption, none of our leaders will go to BJP," the party said.
Responding to Mr Kejriwal's remarks, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, "If anyone has corruption and loot in his DNA, it's Arvind Kejriwal. Observing that Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh couldn't get bail, Arvind Kejriwal has realised that his future is in the dark. He has realised that he will have to give answer to the public."
Mr Kejriwal was first summoned to appear before ED on November 2, and then on December 21 last year. He skipped both summons. He was then asked to come in on January 3, but he cited Rajya Sabha polls and Republic Day preparations. A fresh summons was issued, asking him to appear before the agency on January 18 or 19. He will skip this one too.
Sources from the agency have maintained that the summonses sent to Mr Kejriwal were well within law. The AAP leader's name has been mentioned multiple times in charge sheets filed by the ED in the excise policy case. The agency has said that the accused were in touch with him during the preparation of the now-scrapped excise policy for the national capital.
The ED has also claimed in its chargesheet that AAP had used "proceeds of crime" in its Goa election campaign.
The Delhi excise policy was scrapped following allegations of corruption. The CBI took over the case following a recommendation by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. Thereafter, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe the money trail.