ED moves Delhi High Court against Arvind Kejriwal's acquittal in case over skipping summons

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the Delhi High Court against a trial court's acquittal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal for failing to comply with the summons issued to him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the excise policy case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma is scheduled to hear the matter on April 1, Wednesday.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Courts had acquitted Kejriwal in the case in January. Judge Dalal held that ED failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kejriwal disobeyed the summons intentionally.

The ED moved the Court in February 2024 against Kejriwal for his non-compliance with the summons issued by the agency under Section 50 of PMLA.

Kejriwal had chosen not to appear before the central agency despite issuance of the five summons to him on different dates in connection with the probe into the alleged scam.

The ED’s probe into money laundering contentions stemmed from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17, 2022, in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. 

The CBI case was registered on a complaint made by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022. 

The ED subsequently registered a case on the money laundering angle against the accused persons on August 22, 2022.

Kejriwal was later arrested in the main case and was ultimately granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Recently, the trial court discharged all the accused in the CBI case.