Delhi Court directs CM Kejriwal to physically appear on March 16

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal summoned by court for not complying with ED's summons in excise policy scam.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been asked to present himself physically before the Rouse Avenue Court on March 16 following a complaint by the Enforcement Directorate.

The court summon comes after the ED’s fresh complaint against the Aam Aadmi Party chief for not complying with its summons in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

According to official sources, the latest ED complaint pertains to summonses No. 4 to 8, sent by the agency under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) between January 14 and March 4.

The complaint against Mr. Kejriwal came two days after he skipped the eighth summons by the Central probe agency. On the same day, the AAP chief said that he is ready to appear before the agency through videoconferencing on any day after March 12.

Mr. Kejriwal had appeared before the court, which had summoned him based on the ED’s complaint on February 3, through videoconferencing on February 17. He had expressed his inability to be personally present for the hearing due to the ongoing Budget Session.

While summoning him last month, the court had noted that Mr. Kejriwal was “legally bound” to comply with the ED’s summons, but had “purportedly failed to do so”.