Money laundering case: Arvind Kejriwal summoned by ED on 21 December

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday summoned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in connection with the money laundering case. The chief minister has been asked to appear before the agency on 21 December.

According to an NDTV report, the CM wrote to the central agency saying, "The summons does not specify whether I am being summoned as an individual, or in my capacity as chief minister of Delhi, or as the National Convener of AAP."

The Aam Aadmi Party has strongly refuted all charges. Earlier, two AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were arrested by the central probe agencies in connection with the case, and Kejriwal (55) was first issued a summons for questioning on 2 November.

The ED has mentioned Kejriwal's name multiple times in its chargesheets filed in the case and said the accused were in touch with him regarding the preparation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

The ED has claimed in one of the chargesheets that it has recorded the statement of Butchibabu, an accountant allegedly linked to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, in which he said "there was political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Kejriwal) and (former) deputy chief minister (Manish Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair (AAP communications in-charge arrested in the case) on March 19-20, 2021".