Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday defied an Enforcement Directorate summons in the liquor policy case that has landed several of his party colleagues in jail.
In a reply to the summons, Kejriwal called it “unsustainable in law”, and headed to campaign for the Assembly polls in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, with Punjab’s AAP chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
“Has the BJP, which has been in power across the entire country, accomplished anything in all these years?” Kejriwal told a rally in Singrauli.
“In Madhya Pradesh, they have been in power for 15 years, and in Gujarat for 30 years, yet they have not achieved much. These people neither want to do any work themselves nor allow others to do it.”
Kejriwal added: “You can arrest Kejriwal’s physical body, but how will you arrest Kejriwal’s ideas? You might arrest one Kejriwal, but how will you arrest the thousands, lakhs and crores of Kejriwals?”
The Supreme Court had denied bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the case on Monday. It observed that although there was a lack of clarity on the specific allegations against him, it had been established that proceeds of corruption amounting to Rs 338 crore were earned by wholesale distributors in excess of what was due to them.
In his reply to the ED, Kejriwal said it was not clear in which capacity he was being summoned — as a witness, suspect, chief minister or AAP leader.
“The said summons appear(s) to be motivated and issued for extraneous considerations. Simultaneous to the summons, in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started making statements that soon I would be summoned and arrested,” he said.
“By the evening of that day, I received your summons. It is thus apparent that the said summons was leaked to select BJP leaders to malign my image and reputation and has been issued at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre.”
Citing his commitment as party leader and chief minister, he added: “In view of the above, please recall the said summons, which is to say the least, vague and motivated and I am advised, unsustainable in law.”
With senior leaders Sisodia and MP Sanjay Singh still behind bars, speculation is rife within the party about who would take Kejriwal’s place if he is arrested.
A party source said that minister and Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai was likely to be the chief minister in that scenario, although it would be up to Kejriwal to choose his replacements as chief minister and party leader.
Earlier this year, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) spokesperson Sanjay Raut and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, too, had skipped ED summons. Investigative agencies normally issue fresh summons in such instances.
The ED raided several locations on Thursday in the liquor policy case, including premises of AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand.
The controversial liquor policy, under which Delhi PSUs exited the booze trade, lasted eight months. It was withdrawn in July last year after lieutenant governor
V.K. Saxena requested a CBI probe.
Sisodia has blamed the losses to the exchequer on last-minute tweaking of the policy by the previous lieutenant governor, Anil Baijal.
Hill state eviction
Lucknow: The Uttarakhand government has removed 16 families who had been living in Dehradun's Kabul House, an enemy property, for over a century, declaring them illegal inhabitants and sealing the building.
Sonika Meena, the district magistrate of Dehradun, said: “We had served notices on the families who had been living there illegally and asked them to vacate the place within 15 days. As they failed to act on time, they were evicted by a team from the local administration today.”
PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA
