NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s response on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate challenging his acquittal in two cases related to allegedly evading summons in the alleged liquor policy scam.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued a notice to Kejriwal, directing him to file his reply to the ED petition by April 29, the next date of hearing. On Monday, the ED moved the HC challenging the acquittal of the former prime minister in both the cases.
The ED’s appeal against the court order has claimed that Kejriwal “willfully disobeyed them (summons) by not responding to the summons and did not participate in the investigation.”
The agency alleged that he raised “frivolous objections” and deliberately created reasons not to participate in the investigation. The agency has challenged the court’s January 22 order, dismissing the case on the grounds that the ED failed to prove that Kejriwal “willfully disobeyed” the summons issued to him. The ED had filed the case alleging that there had been “deliberate non-compliance” with summons issued to Kejriwal to join the probe.
Kejriwal is currently on interim bail in the money laundering case, with the Supreme Court referring questions on the “need and necessity of arrest” aspect under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to a larger court for in-depth review.
In a corruption-related case filed by the CBI, a trial court on February 27 dismissed Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others in the issue of beverage policy. The CBI’s plea against the dismissal is currently pending in the high court.
The Court observed that the judicial duty was not to secure a suitable result or to adopt a dominant narrative, but to uphold the rule of law.
