ED summons Kejriwal in another money laundering case: Know details
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, in connection with a money laundering case linked to irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Kejriwal was asked to appear before the agency on Monday to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case. This marks the second time the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo has been summoned in a case related to money laundering.
Why does this story matter?
In addition to the DJB case, Kejriwal is facing questioning in another money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy. He has already skipped eight summonses, deeming them "illegal." A ninth notice requires him to appear before ED investigators on Thursday. Responding to the summons, Delhi minister Atishi stated, "Nobody knows what..DJB case is about. She said this appeared to be a backup plan to arrest Kejriwal and prevent him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.
Allegations of bribe money passed on as election funds
The ED alleged that bribe money from corruption in a DJB contract was funneled into AAP's election funds. In February, the agency raided the premises of Kejriwal's assistant Bibhav Kumar, AAP Rajya Sabha MP ND Gupta, former DJB member Shalabh Kumar, and others. The ED arrested former DJB chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal on January 31. It claimed Arora "received" bribes and "passed them on" to individuals managing DJB, including those connected to AAP.
ED claims AAP received kickbacks
The agency claimed the DJB contract was awarded to NKG Infrastructure Ltd at "highly inflated rates" to collect bribes. "As against the contract value of Rs. 38 crore, only about Rs. 17 crore was spent toward the contract and the remaining amounts were siphoned off in the guise of various fake expenses," said the ED. In response, Atishi claimed that during the raids, ED officials only downloaded two Gmail accounts and took three family phones from Kumar's living room.
Delhi Excise Policy scam case
The Kejriwal-led Delhi government implemented the revamped 2021-22 liquor excise policy in November 2021. However, amid extensive corruption allegations, it decided to scrap the policy less than a year later. Central probe agencies alleged that wholesaler profit margins were artificially boosted to 12% from 5%. Furthermore, they also claimed that the regulation promoted cartelization and benefited those ineligible for liquor licenses for financial gain.
