New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) The AAP Thursday linked the fresh Enforcement Directorate summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with the Supreme Court verdict on the Chandigarh mayoral poll, saying the notice was a BJP “revenge” on the AAP for losing the civic post to it.
There was no immediate reaction from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the allegations.
Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Assembly, AAP leader Atishi claimed the ED summons was an attempt to scare Kejriwal and the AAP.
The ED has issued a seventh summons to Kejriwal asking him to appear before it on February 26 for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy for Delhi for 2021-22, official sources said on Thursday.
Kejriwal has so far skipped all the summonses issued by the ED, terming those “illegal”.
“This summons is just an attempt at revenge by the BJP for the Supreme Court upholding democracy in its verdict on the Chandigarh mayoral poll. This is a revenge for the AAP’s victory in the Chandigarh mayoral poll,” Atishi said.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday overturned the result of the Chandigarh mayoral poll in which the BJP candidate had emerged an unlikely winner, and declared the AAP-Congress alliance nominee, Kuldeep Kumar, as the new mayor.
Atishi said the ED itself went to court over Kejriwal skipping its summonses and wondered why the agency could not wait for the court’s order in the matter.
The ED has approached the Rouse Avenue Court here over Kejriwal skipping its summonses. The court has directed the AAP national convenor to be physically present before it on March 16.
The ED while issuing the 7th summons under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has rejected the contention that a fresh notice to him was wrong as the matter is sub judice.
Atishi said the AAP and Kejriwal are not going to be scared by the ED summonses and will continue their fight against the BJP to protect the country’s democracy.
“This summons has nothing to do with any probe otherwise the ED would have waited for the court judgement. It’s merely an attempt to scare Arvind Kejriwal,” she charged.
In a separate press conference, Delhi minister and AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj alleged that the ED summons was “illegal” and “politically motivated”. The party’s legal experts of will look into it, he said.
He alleged the BJP-led Central government was “misusing” central agencies as “tools” against its political opponents. PTI VIT VIT TIR TIR
