Liquor Policy: Delhi High Court Issues Notice On ED's Plea Against Arvind Kejriwal's Acquittal In Cases Over Skipping Summons

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice on a plea moved by Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the acquittal of former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal in cases concerning non compliance of its summons in relation to the alleged liquor policy scam.Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma sought response of Kejriwal and listed the matter for hearing on April 29. Special counsel Zoheb Hossain appeared for ED and said that the trial court committed grave error in acquitting Kejriwal, especially when the factum of him accepting and not responding to the summons is not disputed.There are various judgments, in which it is held that when a document is not disputed, there is no requirement of proving it, he said. Advocate Vivek Gurnani also appeared with Hossain.Noting that Kejriwal did not appear despite advance notice, the Court ordered: "Respondent has chosen not to appear despite advance notice. Issue fresh notice. List on April 29. Let the TCR (Trial Court Record) be called.”On January 22, Kejriwal was acquitted by the trial court in the cases filed by ED alleging that he did not comply to the summons issued to him in the money laundering case. ED had alleged that there was wilful non compliance on the part of Kejriwal to the summons issued to him to join the investigation. ED had filed two criminal complaints against Kejriwal alleging non compliance of the summons by him.CM Kejriwal had skipped the ED summons issued for November 02 and December 21 of 2023, and January 03 and January 18 of 2024. He had called the summons notices “illegal”.Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, 2024. He was granted bail by vacation judge Niyay Bindu of Rouse Avenue Courts on June 20, 2024. On ED's challenge, the Delhi High Court had stayed the impugned order.In July 2024, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal while referring his petition challenging his arrest by ED to a larger bench.ED had alleged that the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to give wholesale business profit of 12 percent to certain private companies, although such a stipulation was not mentioned in the minutes of meetings of Group of Ministers (GoM). The agency had also claimed that there was a conspiracy that was coordinated by Vijay Nair and other individuals along with South Group to give extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers. Nair was acting on behalf of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, according to the agency.Title: ED v. Arvind Kejriwal

Liquor Policy: Delhi High Court Issues Notice On ED's Plea Against Arvind Kejriwal's Acquittal In Cases Over Skipping Summons

Nupur Thapliyal

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