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NEW DELHI — Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had requested the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a date after March 12 for questioning in the alleged excise scam, sources said on Monday.
His response came after ED had issued eight summons to Kejriwal on February 27 and asked him to appear before it on March 4.
AAP sources said that the Chief Minister is prepared to answer all the ED questions. “Though summons are illegal, we are still prepared to respond,” sources said.
“The CM has requested a date after March 12 and he will respond via video conference,” said the party sources.
On February 21, ED had once again issued the seventh summons to appear before the financial probe agency. Earlier, on February 19, Kejriwal skipped the ED’s sixth summon in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.
The ED on January 31, had issued summons to Kejriwal, and he was told to appear before it on February 2. That was the fifth summons issued to the AAP Convener.
The financial probe agency's complaint alleged that Kejriwal intentionally did not want to obey the summons and kept on giving “lame excuses.”
"If a high-ranking public functionary like him disobeyed the law, it would set a wrong example for the common man i.e. the Aam Aadmi,” the agency said.
The AAP sources earlier had said that the Chief Minister will not appear before the ED as the matter is in court, the next hearing in court is on March 16.
“Instead of sending summons every day, ED should await the court's decision. We won't leave the INDIA bloc,” said the sources