Delhi court acquits Arvind Kejriwal in ED summons cases linked to excise policy probe

Law Notify : A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in two complaint cases filed by the Directorate of Enforcement, which had accused him of deliberately failing to comply with summons issued during its investigation into the Delhi Excise Policy matter.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Courts declined to proceed against Kejriwal for the alleged non-appearance before the agency. The court has indicated that a detailed judgment will follow.

The ED had moved the court in February 2024, invoking Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, arguing that Kejriwal had wilfully avoided appearing before the agency despite repeated opportunities. According to the prosecution, five summons were issued to him on different dates in connection with the money laundering investigation, none of which were honoured.

The agency maintained that failure to appear before an authorised officer amounted to a punishable offence under the PMLA, which empowers the ED to summon individuals, record statements on oath, and require the production of documents during an investigation. Such non-compliance, the ED argued, undermined the statutory powers granted under the Act.

The case has its origins in a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 17, 2022, over alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021–22. The CBI action followed a complaint sent by the then Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on July 20, 2022, citing procedural violations and alleged undue benefits to certain private entities.

Based on the CBI case, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report on August 22, 2022, under the PMLA to examine suspected laundering of proceeds of crime linked to the excise policy. Kejriwal was subsequently arrested in the main money laundering case and remained in custody before being granted bail by the Supreme Court of India, which stressed the need to balance personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution with the strict provisions of special criminal statutes.