In a blow for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a Delhi court on Friday rejected to postpone the summons that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued to him for failing to appear at a summons in a money laundering case involving the Delhi excise policy. Judge Rakesh Syal of the Rouse Avenue Court, who oversees additional sessions, denied Kejriwal’s motion for a stay and instructed him to get a waiver from the trial court in order to avoid appearing before the inquiry agency.
In an appeal, Kejriwal challenged Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra’s order to appear before her on March 16 in Sessions Court. Kejriwal was the target of legal proceedings by the ED because he disregarded a summons in connection with the excise policy matter. To get Kejriwal to comment on the matter, the agency has filed two cases, asking to prosecute him for disobeying many summonses.
Kejriwal did not show up, despite the investigative agency sending him eight summonses.
Kejriwal has been ordered to physically appear in court tomorrow, and the hearing for revision petitions has been scheduled for March 30.