DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today in a probe related to excise policy case. He was scheduled to appear before the probe agency at around 11am.
Kejriwal along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will instead head to Madhya Pradesh to campaign for the upcoming assembly elections.
Earlier, he termed the ED summons "illegal" and "politically motivated" and asked the ED to withdraw it immediately.
In a letter to the ED director, Kejriwal alleged that he was served the notice at the best of the Bharatiya Janata Party to prevent him from campaigning in four states which are going into polls this month.
Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in a case related to alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and was denied bail by the Supreme Court on Monday saying there was "material and evidence” which “tentatively” supported one of the charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that 14 wholesale liquor distributors earned "excess profit” of Rs 338 crore in about 10 months when the now-scrapped excise policy was in operation.
Kejriwal was served summons by the ED the same evening. The ED had last month told a court that it was contemplating adding the Aam Aadmi Party as an accused in the excise policy case. Kejriwal is the national convener of the party