Page 62 - Arvind Kejriwal

ED files court complaint against Arvind Kejriwal for skipping summonses

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a fresh complaint before a Delhi court seeking prosecution of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for skipping multiple summonses issued to him in a money laundering case, official sources said on Wednesday. The latest complaint pertains to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor not honouring summonses no. 4 to 8 sent by the federal probe agency under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra has listed the matter for hearing on Thursday. The ED had earlier moved a local court seeking Kejriwal's prosecution for not attending the first three summonses issued to him in the money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. The court of ACMM Malhotra has listed this matter (regarding summonses no. 1 to 3) for hearing on March 16. Kejriwal, 55, had called all the ED summonses "illegal" and informed the agency last time that

Registration to provide Rs 1,000 monthly to women will start soon: Delhi CM

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday sought the blessings of women for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as he announced that registration will soon start for a scheme to provide them Rs 1,000 a month. While presenting the 2024-25 Delhi budget in the assembly on Monday, Finance Minister Atishi had announced a new scheme for women under which eligible non-income tax payees above 18 years will get the amount every month. The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May and Delhi sends seven members to the Lower House of Parliament. The scheme, which will be implemented after the elections, is likely to benefit around 50 lakh women in the national capital. In a long post on X, Kejriwal said he was getting a lot of phone calls from women since the announcement of the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna on Monday and they were asking about the registration for the scheme. The chief minister said he was working on the scheme and registration for it will start

Kejriwal skips 8th ED summon, says ready to appear virtually after Mar 12

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the eighth summons by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the excise policy case and expressed readiness to appear before the agency through video-conferencing March 12, government sources said. Sources in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the agency was examining Kejriwal's response. The agency might not allow Kejriwal's request to appear virtually and might issue a ninth summons to him for questioning in the case, they said. Kejriwal, in a press conference, said it was written in law that ED proceedings are like judicial proceedings. "That means the agency is like a court. In a court, any party is allowed to be present through video conferencing. If I am asking for video-conferencing, which is my right, I hope they will allow it," he said. The chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener also said he has no objection over a live streaming of his appearance before the agency if it so decides. "This is n

Delhi Budget FY24-25: Focus on education, women, and health. All details

Delhi Finance Minister Atishi introduced the Delhi government's Budget of Rs 76,000 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the state Assembly

Kejriwal agrees to appear before ED virtually, seeks date after March 12

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his reply to the latest ED summons related to the excise policy case has expressed readiness to appear before the agency through video-conferencing after March 12, government sources said on Monday. Kejriwal has so far skipped multiple summonses of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), calling them illegal and asking the agency to wait as the matter was in court. The chief minister reiterated that the summonses are "illegal" but still he was ready to answer the questions by the probe agency, the sources said. Kejriwal also has to appear before a city court on March 16. The court has sought his personal appearance in a complaint case filed by the ED over skipping of its summonses by the him.

Centre govt suffering from 'anti-Punjab' syndrome, says Arvind Kejriwal

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday alleged that the Centre is suffering from "anti-Punjab" syndrome and asked the people to punish it in the coming Lok Sabha polls. He also appealed to the people of Punjab to make his party victorious on all 13 seats. Kejriwal took on the Centre for allegedly rejecting Punjab's tableau for the Republic Day parade, saying it was humiliation of Punjabis and added that the martyrs of state do not need "NOC" (no-objection certificate) from the Centre for their supreme sacrifices. The Centre is suffering from anti-Punjab syndrome due to which they need to be taught a lesson, he said, and slammed the Union government for creating "obstacles" in the smooth functioning of the non-BJP ruled states. This is "high-handedness" of the Centre, he added. The Delhi chief minister was addressing a gathering here. Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had detailed deliberations with the industrialists and traders during 'Sarkar Vyapaar

AAP to announce candidates for LS seats in Punjab in 2-4 days: CM Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party will announce candidates for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in next two to four days, party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said that discussion on the candidates for the Lok Sabha polls was going on, and urged the people of the state to make the party victorious in all seats. "In next two to four days, the announcement will be made," said Kejriwal while speaking to reporters in Jalandhar after virtually launching 165 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' to be set up across Punjab. "If you ensure (the party's) victory in all 13 seats, you will strengthen Bhagwant Mann's hands. It is Mann alone who is fighting the Centre. It is Mann who is only fighting the governor and the BJP," said Kejriwal who was accompanied by the Punjab chief minister. The Delhi chief minister also slammed the Centre for allegedly withholding Rs 8,000 crore worth of funds from Punjab.

'Avg daily passengers count in DTC buses yet to reach pre-Covid levels'

The average daily count of passengers travelling in DTC buses declined from 33.31 lakh in 2019-20 to 25.02 lakh in 2022-23, while the corresponding figure for cluster buses fell from 17.71 lakh to 16.39 lakh, according to the Delhi Economic Survey 2023-24. Finance Minister Atishi presented the Economic Survey in the Delhi Assembly on Friday. According to the survey, the average daily passenger count in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses is yet to reach pre-pandemic figures. The report showed that while the bus fleet in DTC has declined from 3,951 in 2017-18 to 3,937 in 2022-23, the cluster bus fleet has grown from 1,744 to 3,293. According to the Economic Survey, the average daily number of passengers travelling in DTC buses stood at 29.86 lakh in 2017-18. It rose to 30.15 lakh in the next financial year and then to 33.31 lakh in the 2019-20 fiscal. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed due to it, the figures fell to 12.24 lakh in 2020-

Saxena threatened officers to stall bus marshal scheme: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena of threatening officers to stall various city government initiatives, including the bus marshal scheme. There was no immediate reaction from the LG's office to the chief minister's claim. Speaking in the Delhi Assembly on the issue of removal of civil defence volunteers deployed as bus marshals in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses, Kejriwal said the scheme ran smoothly from 2015 to 2022. "We formed the government in 2015 with a promise to ensure women's safety. We installed CCTV cameras in five years, street lights were installed at dark spots and buses were equipped with CCTV cameras, panic buttons and bus marshals were deployed. There are several instances of good work by bus marshals," the chief minister said. The bus marshal scheme worked well for eight years but in 2023, officers started raising objections saying civil defence volunteers could not work as marshals, he ...

No single piece of paper brought to L-G's notice: Saxena writes to Kejriwal

"The said scheme, which is purportedly being stopped by me, has never ever been brought to me, even on a single piece of paper," added the letter

ED issues 8th summon to Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi excise policy scam case

The Enforcement Directorate has issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the eighth time for his questioning in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Tuesday. They said Kejriwal, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, has been asked to depose on March 4 at the agency's headquarters here. On Monday, Kejriwal, 55, skipped the seventh summons issued to him in the case, saying he would appear before the agency if a court ordered him to do so. A city court, approached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over Kejriwal skipping its summonses, has directed the chief minister to appear before it on March 16. The ED, while issuing the eighth summons, rejected the contention that a fresh notice for Kejriwal's attendance was wrong as the matter was sub-judice.

AAP's Political Affairs Committee to meet to discuss LS poll candidates

The PAC is the party's highest decision-making body and is headed by AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Made mistake by retweeting video: Kejriwal tells SC in defamation case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday told the Supreme Court that he made a mistake by retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee related to the BJP IT Cell. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, without issuing notice on a plea of Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order which upheld summons issued to him as an accused in the criminal defamation case, asked the complainant whether he wanted to close the matter in view of the chief minister's apology. The bench also asked the trial court not to take up the defamation case involving Kejriwal till March 11. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said, "I can say this much that I made a mistake by retweeting." He added that it is a case for retweeting on social media platform 'X' and the complaint filed was immediately followed by recording of pre-summoning evidence. "Thereafter, the complaint was withdrawn. When it was refiled, after nine months

'Delhi model' showing direction to whole country, says Kejriwal in Assembly

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the Delhi governance model is showing direction to the entire country in terms of education, health and electricity. Kejriwal was highlighting the achievements of his government in Delhi in the three sectors during an address in the Assembly. Before he began, the chief minister asked the members to salute senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, who was arrested the same day last year by the CBI in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. "The AAP government has undertaken so much work in Delhi that was not done in the last 75 years. Today, the 'Delhi model' is showing direction to the entire country. I will talk about three sectors -- health, education and electricity," he said. Kejriwal said almost four to five lakh students in Delhi have left private schools and sought admissions to government ones. "If we can provide good education to poor children in Delhi, it can also be done in the country. Why are government sch

Made mistake by retweeting video: Kejriwal tells SC in defamation case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday told the Supreme Court that he made a mistake by retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee related to the BJP IT Cell. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, without issuing notice on a plea of Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order which upheld summons issued to him as an accused in the criminal defamation case, asked the complainant whether he wanted to close the matter in view of the chief minister's apology. The bench also asked the trial court not to take up the defamation case involving Kejriwal till March 11. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said, "I can say this much that I made a mistake by retweeting." In its judgement dated February 5, the high court had said that reposting alleged libellous content would attract the defamation law. The high court had said a sense of responsibility has to be attached while retweeting content about which one do

Delhi CM Kejriwal skips seventh ED summons; asks to wait for Court decision

AAP has emphasised that the matter is currently sub judice, with the next court hearing scheduled for March 16

SC to hear Kejriwal's plea against Delhi HC order in defamation case on Mon

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order which upheld summons issued to him as an accused in a criminal defamation case for retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in May 2018. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to hear the matter. In its judgement dated February 5, 2024, the high court had said that reposting alleged libelous content will attract defamation law. The high court had said a sense of responsibility has to be attached while retweeting content about which one does not have knowledge and added that retweeting of defamatory content must invite penal, civil as well as tort action if the person retweeting it does not attach a disclaimer. "This court is of the view that rigours of Section 499 (defamation) of IPC will be attracted prima facie in case a person retweets/ reposts the alleged defamatory remarks or content, for the

Vote for INDIA bloc so your voices are heard in Parliament: CM Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday asked people in Delhi to vote for INDIA bloc candidates in the Lok Sabha polls so that their voices can be heard in Parliament and inflated water bills are waived. Speaking at a protest organised by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) against inflated water bills here, Kejriwal said on a lighter note that he should be given the Nobel Prize for running the government despite adverse conditions. "In the Lok Sabha elections, you should vote for INDIA bloc candidates from Delhi and send them to Parliament. This will create a protective shield around Delhi and no lieutenant governor will be able to do anything," the AAP national convenor said. "I assure you that within 15 days of the Lok Sabha elections and the win of INDIA bloc candidates, your water bills will come down to zero," he added. The AAP and Congress, allies in the INDIA bloc, have finalised a 4-3 arrangement for Delhi, under which the ruling party will contest four out of the seven parliamentary

Delhi L-G writes to CM to expedite 'stalled' process of Budget presentation

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urging him to expedite the "stalled" process of budget presentation in the Assembly. The Delhi government in a statement said the budget was en route to the LG office for his approval. "The budget was by Finance Minister Atishi with the presidential nod, around February 20. It is a financial document of utmost importance for the entire 2024-25 fiscal, so due diligence at micro level is required, and this takes time," read the statement. The Delhi Assembly's Budget Session, which started on February 15, was extended till the first week of March with the finance minister citing a delay in its finalisation and seeking approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Budget Session was initially scheduled to end on February 21. Saxena said that he addressed the Assembly on February 15, and the House was informed by the chief minister and the finance minister that the presentation of the budget

Inflated bills: Will implement one-time settlement scheme, says Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday met families in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri who claimed to have received inflated water bills and assured them that the issue would be resolved at the earliest. Interacting with the families, Kejriwal said his government will soon bring a scheme for a one-time settlement of water bills. "We are looking into the issue of inflated water bills and plan to resolve this by bringing a one-time settlement scheme very soon. The policy got delayed as the BJP has been creating hurdles for us. However, we are working on bringing this scheme at the earliest," Kejriwal told Govindpuri residents, many of whom had gathered in the streets with their water bills. He said the AAP will do everything to implement the scheme. "Even people with tiny houses have received bills worth lakhs of rupees. This problem started in the (COVID-19) pandemic as units were not noted in person during that time. "There are 12 lakh families who have received inflated bills. T