Protesting against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to skip the summons from the Enforcement Directorate, Delhi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organized a demonstration at Rajghat. Kejriwal had been summoned by the agency in connection with an alleged Delhi Liquor scam case. The demonstration was attended by Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, BJP leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, and other prominent leaders.
Kejriwal chose not to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on the same day after raising questions about the legality of the summons issued to him. In a response to the ED’s summons issued on October 30, Kejriwal demanded the withdrawal of the notice, expressing doubts about its legal standing. The ED’s summons to the Delhi Chief Minister took a political turn, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing the BJP of pursuing a vendetta.
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “This is being perceived not only in India but globally as a demonstration of the central government’s overreach of power, which seems bent on suppressing small political parties. The Aam Aadmi Party is a growing national party, and the BJP Government is attempting everything to undermine it.” In response, the BJP maintained that the law was merely taking its course and that Chief Minister Kejriwal should comply with it.
Arvind Kejriwal had previously been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April of this year in connection with the same case. However, Kejriwal had not been named as an accused in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, the previous year. In February 2023, Arvind Kejriwal’s Deputy, Manish Sisodia, was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities related to the now-scrapped excise policy in Delhi, which had been withdrawn amid allegations of wrongdoing. The Supreme Court, on October 30, rejected Manish Sisodia’s bail plea concerning cases linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy. The court directed that the trial in the case be completed within six to eight months. The court also acknowledged certain aspects related to a tentative money trail of 338 crores
