Kejriwal agrees to appear before ED virtually, seeks date after March 12

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal agrees to appear virtually before ED in money laundering probe after skipping multiple summons.

In response to the eighth summons of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) which asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before the ED on March 4, the Aam Aadmi Party leader has written a reply stating the summon as "illegal", however, he has agreed to appear before the agency virtually on any date after March 12.

Earlier on February 27, the ED issued an eighth summons to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case, asking him to join the investigation on March 4.

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The fresh summons to the Delhi Chief Minister followed the seventh summons which he had skipped on February 26. Mr. Kejriwal has so far skipped seven previous summons issued by the ED on February 26, February 19, February 2, January 18, January 3, November 2 and December 22, calling them "illegal and politically motivated".

The ED wants to record Mr. Kejriwal's statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.

While skipping the seventh summons issued by the ED, AAP, in a statement, termed it "illegal", saying that the ED should stop sending summonses and wait for the court's decision as the probe agency has already approached the court on the matter.

A day after Mr. Kejriwal skipped the fifth summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate, the agency on February 3 approached a Delhi court against him for "non-compliance with the summons".