Kejriwal to skip ED summons in Delhi Jal Board case
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will skip the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued in connection with a probe into the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Monday, ANI reported. To recall, the AAP national convener was summoned by the ED under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case.
Why does this story matter?
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 on Thursday. Responding to the DJB summons, Delhi minister Atishi termed it a "backup plan to arrest Kejriwal and prevent him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections."
ED summons illegal: AAP
The AAP said, "When there is bail from the court, why is ED sending summons again...ED summons are illegal." Kejriwal was granted bail by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra on a bail bond of Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 1 lakh surety. On Friday, the Rouse Avenue Court reversed a decision regarding the stay of summons served to him on ED's complaints.
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.
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 termed the DJB case fake
