New Delhi, Nov 12 – The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to a plea by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who has challenged the summons issued to him in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri refused to stay the trial in the criminal case and noted that the trial court’s order, which Kejriwal is contesting, is two months old and not a new order. The court issued notice to the ED on Kejriwal’s petition, which questions the legality of the summons issued to the former Delhi Chief Minister based on the ED’s complaint.
Kejriwal’s counsel argued that the complaint was not maintainable, highlighting a procedural discrepancy where one officer issued the summons, while another officer filed the complaint.
Kejriwal is challenging the September 17 order of a sessions court that had dismissed his plea against the summons. The summons was issued by a magisterial court, which had taken cognizance of two complaints filed by the ED for Kejriwal’s failure to respond to earlier summonses. The ED had filed the complaints seeking Kejriwal’s prosecution for evading multiple summonses in connection with the now-abandoned Delhi excise policy.
