Excise scam: HC to hear Kejriwal's plea for protection from coercive action

The Delhi High Court will on Thursday hear Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea seeking protection from coercive action in an excise policy-linked money-laundering case.

A bench headed by justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain passed over his plea after the AAP leader's counsel requested that the matter be taken up after some time.

The application for interim relief forms part of Kejriwal's petition challenging the summonses issued to him for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate.

Kejriwal has moved the court in the wake of the latest summons, the ninth issued by the ED, asking him to appear before it on Thursday.

He has repeatedly refused to appear before the agency, calling the summonses illegal.

On Wednesday, the court had asked him why he was not appearing before the agency.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the petitioner in the matter, had then said his client would appear before the ED but protection from coercive action was required because of the agency's "clear intent" to apprehend him with elections around the corner.

In the petition, Kejriwal has said the arbitrary procedure under PMLA was being employed to create a non-level playing field for the upcoming general elections to "skew the electoral process in the favour of the ruling party at the Centre".

The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case.

Kejriwal's name has been mentioned multiple times in the charge sheets filed by the ED. The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them, in return for which they paid kickbacks to the AAP.

A Delhi court granted bail to Kejriwal on Saturday on two complaints filed by the ED against him for skipping six of the previous eight summonses in the money-laundering case.