Excise policy case: ED summons Arvind Kejriwal for third time, asked to appear on January 3

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to

Delhi chief minister

Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on January 3 in connection with the money laundering investigation related to the excise policy.
This marks the third notice to Kejriwal, who is also the national convenor of the

Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP). He had previously declined to appear before the federal agency on two earlier summons dated November 2 and December 21.
After failing to appear before the ED in their initial summons on November 2, Kejriwal wrote to ED assistant director saying, "The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e.

as a witness or a suspect in the above-mentioned case. Please recall the said summons, which is, to say the least, vague and motivated and I am advised, unsustainable in law."

The Delhi CM was again summoned on December 18 but chose not to appear, suggesting that the summons were intended to create sensational news during the parliamentary elections in 2024. Currently engaged in a Vipassana meditation course, Kejriwal said, "The timing of your summons leaves much to desire and strengthens my belief that the summons being sent to me are not based upon any objective or rational yardstick but purely as propaganda as well as to create sensational news in the final few months of much-awaited parliamentary elections in the country."

Kejriwal had also been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April of the same year in connection with the case. However, he was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI in August of the previous year. In February 2023, Kejriwal's deputy, Manish Sisodia, was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of Delhi's new excise policy, which was later withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the opposition.

Watch 'We'll not be scared by threats': AAP leader Atishi on ED's fresh summon to CM Kejriwal