ED summons illegal, should withdraw immediately: Kejriwal ahead of questioning

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal responded to the ED summons on Thursday, hours before he was supposed to be present at the ED office and called the ED notice illegal.

“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 is not clear whether the reply indicates that Kejriwal would skip the ED date today.

The AAP on Wednesday said it got to know that Kejriwal would be arrested after the questioning. In that case, the party and the Delhi government would run from jail, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said. The party made it clear that it took into account the possibility of Kejriwal’s arrest on Thursday and put a plan B in place. But it is not known whether Kejriwal will attend the ED summons.

The case against AAP in the liquor policy became stronger after the Supreme Court denied bail to Manish Sisodia and said one aspect with regard to the transfer of ₹338 crore is tentatively established. Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict, Delhi BJP leader Manoj Tiwari said Kejriwal would be arrested soon.

On Thursday, another AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand came on ED radar in a money laundering probe. ED, however, did not make it clear whether these raids had something to do with the liquor policy.