The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the acquittal of former Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal in a case lodged against him for allegedly skipping summons by the agency during the probe into the alleged liquor policy scam.
The ED's new appeal against Kejriwal, who is out on an interim bail as per a January 22 order from a trial court in Delhi, will be heard before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Wednesday.
In its January 22 order, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi had acquitted Kejriwal in cases linked to his alleged failure to appear before the agency, despite repeated summons.
At the time, the court had also justified its decision by pointing out that the ED failed to prove that Kejriwal intentionally disobeyed the agency's summons.
The ED has maintained that Kejriwal had raised frivolous objections and had fabricated reasons for not attending the probe, adding that “mere non-appearance (following the summons) is not intentional disobedience”, an Indian Express report noted.
The ED has also alleged that the other accused in the case had been in touch with Kejriwal for drafting the now-scrapped excise policy that resulted in undue benefits and kickbacks for the party.
Kejriwal is presently on interim bail in the money laundering case, as the Supreme Court has referred questions on the "need and necessity of arrest" under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to a larger bench for detailed analysis.
After the January 22 ruling, Kejriwal, Sisodia, and 21 others accused in the liquor policy case were discharged by the Delhi court, which noted that the CBI case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny, and stood discredited in its entirety.