ED again summons Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, asks him to appear on December 21

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned

Delhi CM

Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on December 21 in connection with its probe into alleged

money laundering

in the

excise policy case

, in what appears to be a significant change of tack.
The summons was issued a day before Kejriwal, the national convener of the

Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP), was to leave for an undisclosed destination for a 10-day Vipassana retreat.

The decision to call Kejriwal marked a shift from the earlier thinking, as reported by TOI, at the agency not to summon him and file the chargesheet after interrogating Rajya Sabha MP and AAP national treasurer N D Gupta, who appeared before the agency on December 9.
Sources attributed the change of stance to a "rethink" prompted by the opinion that Kejriwal's questioning should be a logical corollary of the ED's stand in the Supreme Court that it was also examining AAP's role in the case. The fresh summons have been issued to Kejriwal after he refused to appear before the

ED

on November 2, citing his engagement with the campaign for the just-held assembly elections. It would be interesting to see whether he appears on December 21.

When approached, AAP said a decision would be taken based on legal opinion. With the elections over, Kejriwal's non-appearance, if he chooses to skip the summons again, will be treated as being evasive.