Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal likely to appear before court on February 17 in case of evading ED summons

New Delhi, February 16

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to appear before a court here on Saturday in connection with a complaint filed by the ED against him over non-compliance with its summons in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy.

The court had on February 7 summoned Kejriwal for February 17, noting that prima facie the AAP chief was “legally bound” to comply.

In its complaint, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that the Delhi chief minister intentionally did not want to obey the summons and kept on giving “lame excuses”. If a high-ranking public functionary like him disobeyed the law, it would “set a wrong example for the common man i.e. the Aam Aadmi,” the agency said.

“From the contents of the complaint and the material placed on record, prima facie offence under Section 174 of the IPC is made out and there are sufficient grounds for proceeding under against accused Arvind Kejriwal…

“Accordingly, issue summons to accused Arvind Kejriwal for the offence under Section 174 of the IPC for February 17, 2024,” the judge had said.

Section 174 relates to non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant.

The ED had on February 3 filed a fresh complaint case against Kejriwal for non-compliance of its summons.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor had earlier written to the ED, describing the summonses issued to him as “illegal and politically motivated”. He had alleged that the summonses were aimed at preventing him from campaigning in elections.