Arvind Kejriwal Asked To Appear Before Delhi Court As He Skipped Five ED Summons In Liquor Excise Policy Case

As Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal skipped five summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a Delhi court has asked him to appear on 17 February to explain why he did so.

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal was summoned in a case related to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government, commonly called the liquor scam. However, Kejriwal didn't appear before the agency calling ED summons "illegal".

The ED has already arrested three senior AAP leaders — former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair — in connection with the same case.

After Kejriwal's non-compliance, the ED filed a complaint against him last week, which was heard today (7 February) at Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court. The ED asserted that being a public servant, Kejriwal cannot ignore its orders.

Since Kejriwal has now been summoned by the court, the AAP plans to "tell the court how the summons is illegal", as per NDTV. The party is "studying the court order... and will take action as per law", as per party sources.

Kejriwal was first summoned in October 2023 and since then has cited various reasons for his non-appearance, including governance-related work in Delhi, a Vipassana session, Rajya Sabha elections, Republic Day celebrations, and a pre-scheduled program in Goa.