Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal left his official residence around 11:30 am, not to reach the Enforcement Directorate office to answer summons, but to campaign in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh.
Before leaving for MP, Delhi Chief Minister wrote to Joginder Singh, Assistant Director at Enforcement Directorate, calling the ED summons “vague and motivated”, “untenable in law”, and demanded the recall of the summons. This is the first time that Kejriwal responded to the ED notice after it was served to him on October 30.
The ED summons were issued to the Delhi Chief Minister on October 30 evening, the day the Supreme Court dismissed former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s bail plea on the grounds that the money trail of Rs 338 crores had been “tentatively established”.
In his letter to the ED Director, Kejriwal stated that the said summons are not clear as to the capacity in which he is being summoned, i.e., as a witness or a suspect. The summons fail to provide the details or reasons for the same and do not specify whether he is summoned in his individual or official capacity as Chief Minister of Delhi or as National Convenor of AAP. The summons, the chief minister added, “appear to be in the nature of a fishing expedition”.
The chief minister further wrote: “The said summons appear to be motivated and issued for extraneous considerations.” Arguing his case, he further added that “simultaneously with the summons in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started issuing statements that soon I would be summoned and arrested. By the evening of that day, I received your summons. It is thus apparent that the said summons were leaked to said BJP leaders to tarnish my image and reputation and have been issued at the behest of the ruling party at the centre.”
Referring to upcoming elections in five states, Kejriwal underlined that as party chief and star campaigner, he needs to travel for campaigning and provide guidance to field workers and his party.
He also said that as incumbent chief minister of Delhi, he has “governance and official commitments” for which his presence is required, particularly in view of the upcoming Diwali festivities in the second week of November.
‘…Please recall the said summons, which is, to say the least, vague and motivated and, as I am advised, unsustainable in law,” Kejriwal ended his letter.
It must be noted that Kejriwal is not asking for another date to appear, but for the recall of the ED summons, terming it as “illegal” and “politically motivated”.
Earlier this year, when Kejriwal was summoned by the CBI on April 16, he faced 56 questions in a marathon 9-hour interrogation session.
AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal met Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at Delhi airport from where they left for Varanasi. The Delhi CM is supposed to travel by road to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. The two led a roadshow in Singrauli. In fact, had Sisodia gotten bail, he, too, would perhaps have been on the campaign trail.
Although there’s been no response from the Enforcement Directorate yet on Kejriwal challenging the summons. AAP, however, is likely to move to Court to challenge the legality of the summons.
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