New Delhi: Skipping ED summons for the third time in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday wrote to the probe agency that he is busy in the run-up to Rajya Sabha elections and is ready to answer any questionnaire from it.
The AAP chief also asked the agency to respond to his earlier letters where he sought clarification on the “real intent, ambit, nature, sweep and scope of the purported inquiry/investigation for which I am being called”.
“Your silence on the aforementioned critical aspects leads me to infer that you are maintaining unwarranted secrecy and are being opaque and arbitrary in the present matter,” he said in the reply to the summons.
Kejriwal had earlier refused to appear before the federal agency on two earlier summonses for November 2 and December 21, calling the notices “illegal” and “politically motivated”.
Citing the election to three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi, where the terms of office of the incumbents will expire on January 27, 2024, he said, “Being National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, I am held up in the process and run up to these critical elections.”
“Being the Chief Minister of Delhi, I am also quite occupied in planning and preparations for several programmes and functions for the Republic Day i.e., 26th January 2024,” he said.
Kejriwal said he “would be happy to respond to any questionnaire” if the agency seeks any information or documents, which are in his knowledge or possession.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody following their arrest in the Delhi excise policy-related money laundering probe.
Questioning the timing of the ED summons, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said the ED has still not answered in what capacity is Kejriwal was being summoned – as a witness or an accused – and alleged the entire excise policy case is politically motivated and an attempt to stop Kejriwal from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“It is a matter of concern that despite my comprehensive response(s) bringing to your notice critical dimensions and legal objections involved in issuing summons to me to appear ‘in person’ in your purported exercise of powers under Section 50 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), you have chosen not to respond,” Kejriwal said in the reply.
The AAP national convener said that he knew about several cases where the ED has given a detailed explanation or response to any of the queries raised or apprehensions nursed by a person who may have been issued summons under Section 50 of the PMLA.
“But in my case, you have refused to even acknowledge the receipt of the detailed submissions made in response to the summons issued to me,” he said.
“In my earlier responses and now again, I reiterate my firm commitment to the rule of law and my unflinching undertaking to render any co-operation or assistance in any inquiry or investigations that may be as per law, fair, just and expedient.”
“However, as stated above, your silence confirms my apprehensions about certain vested interests and extraneous as well as malafide considerations prevailing over any objective, rational, fair or impartial inquiry or investigations,” his reply read.
After he was issued the second summons in December, the chief minister left on his pre-announced programme of a 10-day ‘Vipassana’ meditation course and returned on December 30.
“As a premier investigating agency of the country, the ‘non-disclosure and non-response approach adopted by you cannot sustain the test of law, equity or justice.
“Your obstinacy tantamounts to assuming the role of judge, jury and executioner at the same time which is not acceptable in our country governed by the rule of law,” the chief minister said in the reply.
He alleged that before the summons reached him, it was already there in the media.
“This raises questions whether the purpose of the summon is to do any legitimate enquiry or tarnish my reputation,” he said.
The BJP, meanwhile, claimed that Kejriwal did not want the truth to come out.
“The way Kejriwal is avoiding the ED summons clearly shows that he does not have faith in the administrative and judicial system of the country… If Kejriwal finds the ED notices wrong, he should go to the courts but he will not do that,” Virendra Sachdeva, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief, said.
“He knows that his is a clear case of corruption and it is almost impossible to get relief from the courts,” Sachdeva claimed.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, asserted Kejriwal was ready to cooperate with the agency but claimed the summonses were sent with the intention of arresting him.
