“The summon notice is illegal and politically motivated”: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Hours before he was meant to appear at the ED office, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal responded to the ED summons on Thursday, claiming that the ED notice was unlawful. “The summon notice is illegal and politically motivated. The notice was sent at the behest of the BJP. Notice was sent to ensure that I am unable to go for election campaigning in four states. ED should withdraw the notice immediately,” Kejriwal said. It’s unclear from the response if Kejriwal would appear before ED or not.

On Wednesday, the AAP said it learned that Kejriwal would be taken into custody following the interrogation. The party and the Delhi government would then run from jail, according to Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj. The party made it clear that it had a backup plan in place in case Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday. Kejriwal may or may not respond to the ED summons, though.

After Manish Sisodia’s bail was denied by the Supreme Court and it was stated that one aspect regarding the transfer of 338 crore is tentatively established, the case against the AAP in the liquor policy grew stronger. Leader of the Delhi BJP Manoj Tiwari predicted that Kejriwal would be arrested shortly in response to the Supreme Court’s decision.

Raaj Kumar Anand, an AAP minister, was also under investigation by the ED on Thursday for possible money laundering. However, sources said that this was a different case based on a charge sheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on allegations of making false declarations in imports to evade customs for more than ₹7 crore in addition to international hawala transactions.

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