Excise case probe: ED summons Kejriwal for questioning on Nov 2

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on November 2 in connection with its money laundering probe in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, people familiar with the development said on Monday.

- Neeraj Chauhan

This is the first time Kejriwal has been asked by the federal financial crime agency to join the probe in the high-profile case that is under investigation since August last year.

On April 16, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Kejriwal in a parallel probe it is conducting into allegations of irregularities in the excise policy. Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated.

"BJP is scared of AAP... As a part of this conspiracy, ED has summoned Arvind Kejriwal on November 2... it is a conspiracy to file a false case and arrest. I want to tell the BJP, we are not afraid of going to jail. We'll keep working for the common man," said Minister Atishi in a video statement on X.

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the BJP-led government's "only aim" is to finish the AAP. "For this, they are leaving no stone unturned to frame Kejriwal in fake case, send him to jail and finish the AAP," he said.

Senior AAP leader and Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission vice-chairman Jasmine Shah said, "The entire country knows that BJP's sole remaining goal is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal by any means and to put an end to the AAP one way or another."