ED summons Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on November 2 in liquor policy case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy case, India Today reported on Monday. The central agency, which is probing the money-laundering angle in the alleged excise policy scam,  has asked Kejriwal to appear before it on November 2 (Thursday). The chief minister has been summoned in the same case in which former deputy Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have been arrested.

The development comes on the day the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a bail plea by Manish Sisodia, who has been in judicial custody since February this year. Rejecting the bail, the apex court said that the money train of Rs 338 crore was tentatively established by the probing agencies.

A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti said it has recorded the statements of the probe agencies that the trial in these cases will conclude in six to eight months. But if the trial proceeds in a "sloppy manner", Sisodia will be at liberty to apply for bail in these cases in three months, the bench said.

Earlier this month, the ED arrested Sanjay Singh on the grounds that he played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. The ED had mentioned Singh's name in its charge sheet. The agency said that Dinesh Arora, a middleman, had said he had met Singh during a party in his restaurant, Unplugged Courtyard.