Bhubaneswar: The cat-and-mouse game continues. Hours after a Delhi court denied bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, saying that the case against the Rajya Sabha MP is ‘genuine’, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Arvind Kejriwal for a third time in the same Delhi liquor policy scam.
The Delhi CM, who has been asked to appear before the central agency on January 3, skipped the previous two summons.
The AAP supremo avoided the November 2 summons saying he had governance-related work in Delhi ahead of Diwali and was also scheduled to campaign for the party in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. On December 21, Kejriwal snubbed ED again as he left to attend vipassana meditation programme.
“The timing of your summons leaves much to be desired and strengthens my belief that the summons being sent to me are not based upon any objective or rational yardstick but for extraneous considerations at the behest of political rivals who wish to silence the voice of Opposition to the ruling dispensation at the Centre to create sensational news in the final few months leading up to the Parliamentary elections in early to mid-2024,” Kejriwal wrote to ED recently.
“On the eve of my departure for Vipassana meditation course which has been widely published and largely circulated all over the media in the country as well as officially announced, to my utter dismay and concern, I have received the subject summons,” Kejriwal added.
He pointed out that he is a law-abiding, conscientious and an ordinary citizen of the country who has nothing to hide.
Will Kejriwal respond to ED’s calling this time? Or will he risk a possible direct arrest?
We’ll have to wait for a few days to get an answer.
