Excise “scam”: Delhi High Court refuses to shield Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from coercive measures in the ED case

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not granted any protection from coercive action in a money laundering case involving excise policies by the Delhi High Court on Thursday.

The AAP leader’s appeal for protection was posted for further consideration by a panel of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain on April 22, the day of the hearing for his main lawsuit contesting the summons.

“After hearing both views, we are not inclined to provide protection at this time. The bench declared that the respondent was free to submit a reply.

Kejriwal’s plea against the Enforcement Directorate’s summonses for interrogating him includes a motion for interim relief.

Following the most recent summons—the ninth one the ED has sent—Kejriwal has approached the court, requesting an appearance on Thursday.

The AAP chief’s senior lawyer also requested at the court to postpone the summons that was scheduled for today.

It’s already finished. Time has passed. Speaking on behalf of the ED, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said, “He is not attending.”

Kejriwal has consistently contested the legality of the summonses and declined to appear before the federal anti-money laundering agency.

The case concerns allegations of money laundering and corruption during the development and implementation of the excise policy for 2021–2022 by the Delhi government, which was subsequently abandoned.

In this case, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are being held in judicial custody.

The charge files that the ED filed include many references to Kejriwal.

According to the agency, the other accused had contact with Kejriwal while he was creating the excise policy, which gave them unfair advantages in exchange for bribing the AAP.