New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday refused to seem earlier than the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in reference to the alleged Delhi liquor rip-off case, calling the summons “false” and “unlawful”. He additionally accused the BJP-led central authorities of utilizing the ED and different companies to harass and intimidate him and his celebration leaders forward of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a press convention, Kejriwal stated that he has defined to the ED why their summons is against the law and that he is not going to obey an illegal order. He stated that his largest energy and asset is his honesty and that he has all the time fought for the nation.
“Within the final two years, all of the companies of BJP have performed many raids however not a single penny was discovered. If there may be corruption then the place is the cash? AAP leaders are stored in jail in such pretend instances. Now BJP needs to arrest me. My largest energy and asset is my honesty,” he stated.
ED की क्या तैयारी.. छापेमारी या गिरफ्तारी ?#AamAdmiParty #ED #ArvindKejriwal #LiquorPolicy | @priyasi90 @bramhprakash7 pic.twitter.com/Fr8pPUfnpq
— Zee Information (@ZeeNews) January 4, 2024
He additionally questioned the timing of the discover, saying that the BJP needs to cease him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. He stated that he had cooperated with the CBI once they had referred to as him eight months in the past, however now the ED is attempting to implicate him in a 31-year-old case.
“My attorneys informed me that the summons was unlawful, I wrote the query and despatched it to ED. Ought to I obey an illegal summon? If a authorized summons comes, I’ll adjust to it. Why am I being referred to as simply earlier than the Lok Sabha elections? Eight months in the past I used to be referred to as by CBI, I went and gave all of the solutions. At present they wish to cease me from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
Kejriwal additionally alleged that the BJP is utilizing the ED to lure opposition leaders into becoming a member of their celebration and that they’re focusing on trustworthy leaders like Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair. He appealed to the folks to help him in his battle in opposition to the BJP’s “politics of hatred and vendetta”.
“At present, opposition leaders are being included within the BJP by ED. Whoever joins his celebration, all his issues get resolved. At present trustworthy leaders like Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair have been put in jail. I’ve all the time fought for the nation. Each breath of mine is for the nation. We’ve to save lots of the nation collectively. I’m preventing in opposition to them with all my coronary heart, I want your help,” he stated.
The ED had issued a 3rd summons to Kejriwal on December 22 final yr, asking him to seem earlier than the company on January 3. The summons was in relation to a case registered by the ED in 2019 underneath the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA) in opposition to some liquor corporations and authorities officers for allegedly inflicting a lack of Rs 1,000 crore to the Delhi authorities by evading excise responsibility.
Kejriwal, in his reply to the ED, had expressed his readiness to cooperate with the investigation however declined to seem on the summoned date, calling the discover “unlawful”. He had additionally questioned the company for not responding to his earlier replies when the summons was despatched to him and he had raised sure queries on the character of the company’s investigation.
In his written reply to the ED, the Delhi CM had stated “As a premier investigating company the non-disclosure and non-response method adopted by you can’t maintain the take a look at of regulation, fairness or justice. Your obstinacy is tantamount to assuming the function of decide, jury and executioner on the identical time which isn’t acceptable in our nation ruled by the rule of regulation.”
“In these circumstances, I urge you to reply to my earlier response and make clear the place in order to allow me to grasp the true intent, ambit, nature, sweep and scope of the purported inquiry/investigation for which I’m being referred to as” he had added in his response.
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Kejriwal snubs ED, says BJP needs to arrest him earlier than polls
BJP utilizing ED to harass me and my celebration: Kejriwal
ED summons a political conspiracy, says Kejriwal