Delhi court summons Kejriwal on Feb 17 for ignoring ED summons

A Delhi court summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear on February 17 in response to a complaint filed by the ED for failing to comply with summons in an excise policy-related case. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra stated that Kejriwal, as per prima facie evidence, was “legally bound” to adhere to the summons.

Magistrate Malhotra said that Kejriwal “purportedly failed” to appear before the investigating agency Enforcement Directorate and summoned him for the offence under Section 174 of IPC (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant).

In its complaint, the ED alleged that the Delhi chief minister intentionally did not want to obey the summons and kept on giving “lame excuses.” If a high-ranking public functionary like him disobeyed the law, it would “set a wrong example for the common man i.e. the Aam Aadmi,” the agency said.

“From the contents of the complaint and the material placed on record, prima facie offence under Section 174 of the IPC is made out and there are sufficient grounds for proceeding against accused Arvind Kejriwal...

“Accordingly, issue summons to accused Arvind Kejriwal for the offence under Section 174 of the IPC for February 17, 2024,” the judge said.

Kejriwal on February 2 skipped the fifth summons, which the ED issued to him on Wednesday. The ED had on February 3 filed a fresh complaint case against Kejriwal for non-compliance with its summons.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said it respects the Delhi court order and asserted that it will present its stand on why the multiple ED summonses against him were “illegal” and part of “political conspiracy”.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi cabinet minister Atishi said Kejriwal earlier wrote to the Enforcement Directorate, highlighting the “illegality” of the notices and sought answers.

“But there was no reply from the ED. The ED could not prove why their summons were not illegal,” she charged.

“We respect the court’s summons. We will present our side on why Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal skipped five summonses,” she said.

Questioning the timing of the summons, she said they would inform the court about the sequence of events.