Liquor Policy Case: Delhi Court Summons Arvind Kejriwal Again After Enforcement Directorate's Second Complaint

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been asked by the Rouse Avenue court to appear on 16 March for skipping the summons of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the liquor policy case.

This comes after ED complained to the court for the second time over non-compliance with the summons. In its earlier complaint, the ED said that Kejriwal intentionally disobeyed the first three summons issued to him.

Based on this complaint, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener was summoned and appeared before the court on 17 February via videoconferencing, citing occupancy with the budget session.

The matter was then listed for 16 March as Kejriwal's counsel said that the Delhi CM would appear physically for the next hearing. It is unclear now that both these hearings will be clubbed or will be separate.

Till now, the Delhi CM has skipped eight ED summons. Calling the summons illegal, Kejriwal set some conditions. One was a date after 12 March and the second that he will attend the hearing via video conferencing.

However, the ED officials denied the second condition saying that there is no such provision for questioning via video conferencing. Observers say that fearing arrest Kejriwal is hoping to appear virtually.

Three senior AAP leaders -- Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain -- have already been arrested. While Sisodia and Singh are arrested in the excise policy case, Satyendar Jain is accused in a disproportionate assets case.