Arvind Kejriwal To Decline ED Summons Regarding Delhi Jal Board Money Laundering Investigation

Arvind Kejriwal has decided not to attend the ED meeting scheduled for Monday concerning the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) money laundering investigation.

The ED has reissued a summons to Arvind Kejriwal for today, related to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) money laundering probe. He was summoned by the ED under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act regarding the Delhi Jal Board case. Earlier, Atishi, a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Minister, dismissed the case as ‘fake’, stating that the party does not know the case registered by the ED in this matter.

Atishi stated, “Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal received another summons yesterday evening by the ED…They have asked him to join some investigations related to the Delhi Jal Board. We are unaware of the case registered by the ED in this matter.” In February of this year, the ED arrested a retired chief engineer, Jagdish Kumar Arora, and a contractor, Anil Kumar Aggarwal, as part of its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the tendering process of the DJB.

The ED is investigating two separate cases of irregularities in the DJB’s tendering process, stemming from an FIR by the CBI and the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government.

The CBI FIR alleges that DJB officials provided “undue advantage” to NKG Infrastructure Limited while awarding the tender for supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of electromagnetic flow meters in collusion with NBCC (India) Limited officials. The second allegation relates to an ACB complaint from November 2022, stating that DJB awarded a tender for setting up automotive bill payment collection machines (kiosks) in its various offices to facilitate bill payment for consumers.

Apart from this recent summons, the ED has also issued a ninth summons to Kejriwal in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case, asking him to participate in the investigation on March 21.

These developments follow Kejriwal’s first physical appearance before the city’s Rouse Avenue Court in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case. The ED had previously lodged complaints against him for failing to comply with their summonses in the Delhi excise policy case. The court subsequently granted him bail in the case filed by the agency for skipping its summonses.

Kejriwal secured bail on a bond of Rs 15,000 in the cases filed by the ED. He is currently on bail and has been instructed by the court to respond to the ED summonses and abide by the law. The court emphasized that adhering to the law is essential for someone who has taken an oath under the Constitution.

Kejriwal has ignored eight previous summonses issued by the ED in the Delhi Excise Policy case, terming them “illegal and politically motivated.” The ED aims to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case regarding policy formulation, pre-finalization meetings, and bribery allegations.