New Delhi: The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third time in the last two months. After refusing to appear before the agency twice, according to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), party chief Arvind Kejriwal has refused honour the ED Summon for the third time in a row and has also called the summon ‘illegal’. After refusing to appear before the Directorate for the third time, what will happen next? Will a fourth ED Summon follow or the Delhi CM is left with no more chances of avoiding the meeting? Read more to know what’s next for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal…
Delhi CM Turns Down Third ED Summon, What Next?
As mentioned earlier, the Chief Minister of Delhi, who was supposed to be summoned before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today, has refused the third and final summon by the agency. According to AAP, the party chief is ready to cooperate with ED but refuses to sit before them as asked in the ED summon. According to the party, “Ready to cooperate in ED investigation but the agency’s notice is illegal. Their intention is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. They want to stop him from election campaign.” Now, since the leader has refused to abide by the third summon of ED, there will be no more summons sent to him. Instead, the agency can now issue a non-bailable warrant against him from the Court.
According to the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Rules, a person can skip ED summons only thrice. If he/she ignores the summon thrice, ED has the power and option to seek a non-bailable warrant (NBW) from Court which will compel the person to appear before the court at a specified date and time. If the person still resists and does not appear before the Court, they can be arrested and then brought to court.
ED Summons To Arvind Kejriwal
Kejriwal was summoned by the ED in relation to the Delhi excise policy case on December 21. However, he did not attend the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate, the investigating agency. Before that, the Delhi CM was asked to appear before ED on November 2, 2023.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha had claimed that the summons in question were not being issued by the concerned agency but rather by the BJP. He alleged that the BJP was responsible for creating and sending these summonses. “We feel that this summons is not being sent by the agency; this summons is being sent by the BJP. These summons are made and sent by the BJP itself; the whole issue is not legal; it is political; it is inspired by politics,” the AAP minister told in the report.