NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Saturday granted bail by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) of Rouse Avenue Court against arrest for skipping summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi liquor policy money laundering case.
During the hearing, Kejriwal appeared physically before the court.
ACMM Divya Malhotra granted bail to Kejriwal and noted that the Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code is bailable and directed to furnish Rs 15,000 thousand each in both complaint cases.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju alongwith Zoheb Hossain and Simon Benjamin appeared for the ED and Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta along with Advocate Rajiv Mohan, Mohd Irshad, Mudit Jain and Samprikta Ghosal appeared for Arvind Kejriwal.
On Thursday, it was submitted that Kejriwal gave a reply to each notice issued by the ED but despite coming to know the reasons for their non-appearance in person provided by him, the Directorate of Enforcement continued issuing cyclostyle notices under Sections 50 of the Prevention of Monely Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Delhi Chief Minister on Thursday moved the Sessions Court challenging summons issued to him by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on ED complaints for not complying with the summons issued by the central probe agency in the Delhi liquor policy money laundering case.
Kejriwal while challenging the summons in sessions court further submitted that there was no intentional disobedience on his part.
Kejriwal through a plea sought the direction of the sessions court to stay proceedings adjudication before an additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
Last week, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate took cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate’s second complaint and issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his appearance before the court on March 16.
ED recently moved the court with a second complaint for allegedly not complying with the summons in the alleged Delhi liquor policy money laundering case.
The Enforcement Directorate has moved that a second complaint has been filed against Arvind Kejriwal under Section 190 (1)(a) CrPC r/w Section 200 CrPC 1973 r/w Section 174 IPC, 1860 r/w section 63 (4) of PMLA, 2002 for non-attendance in compliance with Section 50, PMLA, 2002.
Earlier too, the ED filed a complaint against Arvind Kejriwal in which the court issued a summons to him in the matter.
Following the summons order, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appeared virtually before the court on the ED’s complaint against him for allegedly non-compliance with the summons order.
Kejriwal, while appearing, virtually informed the court that he wanted to join the court proceedings physically but due to the confidence motion and budget sessions, he couldn’t come physically before the court.
In the first ED’s complaint, Rouse Avenue Court on February 7, this year, took cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate’s recent complaint filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for not complying with the summons issued by the central probe agency in the Delhi liquor policy money laundering case.
According to the ED, the agency wants to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalized, and allegations of bribery.
In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED has claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth Rs 45 crore generated via the policy as part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.
The excise policy was aimed at revitalizing the city’s flagging liquor business and replacing a sales-volume-based regime with a licence fee for traders. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.
Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s move to order a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime prompted the scrapping of the policy. The AAP has accused Saxena’s predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are already under judicial custody in the case.
Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, the ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member. (ANI)