Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning on December 21 in relation to the ongoing investigation into the liquor policy scam case. The AAP leader received the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), marking the second time he has been called by the ED in this matter. Kejriwal had previously skipped a summons on November 2, describing the agency’s notice as illegal and suggesting it may have been issued for extraneous considerations.
The case revolves around allegations that the Delhi government’s policy for granting licenses to liquor traders favored specific dealers who allegedly paid bribes for such privileges. The AAP administration had implemented the policy on November 17, 2021, but revoked it by the end of September 2022 amid corruption allegations. Investigating agencies claim that the new policy arbitrarily increased wholesalers’ profit margins from 5% to 12%. The ED has implicated the chief minister multiple times in its chargesheets, asserting that the accused were in contact with Kejriwal regarding the formulation and implementation of the excise policy. In April of the same year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had summoned Kejriwal in connection with the case, although he was not named as an accused in its FIR.
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