Arvind Kejriwal has been skipping the summonses, saying they were illegal and politically motivated.

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday appeared before a court in the national capital in the Enforcement Directorate summons case. The city’s Rouse Avenue Court later granted him bail.

This was the first time Kejriwal appeared before the court physically, in connection with the case. At the last hearing, he appeared via video conferencing.

The Enforcement Directorate has filed two complaints against Kejriwal for disobeying their summonses to join the probe in the Delhi excise policy case.

The Enforcement Directorate wants to record Arvind Kejriwal’s statement on topics like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalized and allegations of bribery.

However, Kejriwal has been skipping the summonses, saying they were illegal and politically motivated.

The Delhi administration had heightened security outside the court for Kejriwal’s arrival.

On Friday, the court refused to stay the summonses. Kejriwal had claimed there was no intentional disobedience on his part and he had always explained the reasons for his absence, which weren’t found false.

On February 17, Kejriwal appeared virtually. Last week, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate took cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate’s second complaint and issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his personal appearance before the court on March 16.

The second complaint against Kejriwal was moved under Section 190 (1)(a) CrPC r/w section 200 CrPC 1973 r/w section 174 IPC, 1860 r/w section 63 (4) of PMLA, 2002 for non-attendance in compliance with Section 50, PMLA, 2002.

The court has listed the matter for further arguments on April 1.

Allegations against AAP leaders

Six charge sheets have been filed in the Delhi excise policy case as of now. In its sixth charge sheet, the ED named AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra and claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth ₹45 crore generated via the policy as part of its assembly elections campaign in Goa in 2022.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in jail over similar charges. The party claims the Centre wants ED to arrest Arvind Kejriwal so that the latter can’t campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.