The Enforcement Directorate has issued a summons for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 2 to appear for questioning in the ongoing Delhi excise policy case. This development comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s dismissal of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in the same case. The apex court has directed that the trials in the cases being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Kejriwal should be completed within the next eight months.
Back in April, Kejriwal underwent a grueling nine-hour interrogation by the CBI regarding the corruption and criminal conspiracy probe related to the case. In his response, Kejriwal expressed gratitude to the CBI officers for their hospitality and maintained his cooperation throughout the interrogation process.
Meanwhile, two other Aam Aadmi Party leaders, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, are currently serving time in jail in connection with the case.
The controversy dates back to November 2021 when the Arvind Kejriwal government initially implemented the new Delhi excise policy, only to retract it on July 31 the following year after it faced scrutiny.
The CBI registered a case on August 17, 2022, pertaining to alleged irregularities in the policy’s implementation, with 15 individuals, including Sisodia, being accused. Subsequent searches were conducted at the AAP leader’s premises in Delhi by the investigating agency.
Sisodia, too, underwent questioning by the CBI on October 17, followed by another summons and an eventual arrest on February 26, this year, after the CBI filed a chargesheet in the case.
