Kejriwal Summoned by ED for Alcohol Policy Case Today; Granted Relief by Court Yesterday

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent two summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today, March 17. In the Delhi liquor policy case, he has been summoned for questioning for the ninth time and has been called for interrogation on March 21. In this case, the ED has issued eight summons to him so far, although he has not appeared for questioning even once.

Apart from this, in the Delhi Jal Board money laundering cases, he has been called for questioning on March 18. The CBI had filed an FIR in cases of corruption and taking bribes in the tender process of the Board in July 2022. Based on the CBI FIR, the ED had started investigating two separate cases related to corruption in the Board’s tender process.

Instead of appearing for questioning in the liquor policy case, ED had filed two complaints against Kejriwal in the Delhi High Court. Kejriwal had appeared in court yesterday regarding this case. Just a minute later, the court granted him bail on a bond of Rs 15,000. The court has also granted him relief from appearing in this case.

The ED has presented evidence in court that before finalizing the launch allegations and the liquor policy, meetings were held where Kejriwal’s request to record his submission was rejected. Kejriwal’s lawyers have appealed to the court that they need documents from the ED, based on which they can be questioned. The court has ordered the ED to provide documents. The hearing of this case will take place on April 1.

On the previous Friday (March 15), the hearing was held in the Rouse Avenue Court. On the petition of ED, they were summoned to appear in court on March 7.

ED is investigating two cases of the Delhi Jal Board, understand both cases sequentially.

Case 1:

An allegation was made in the CBI FIR that Delhi Jal Board’s Chief Engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora had awarded a tender to NKG Infrastructure Limited for the installation, supply, and testing of electromagnetic flow meters worth around Rs. 38 crore.

In July 2023, ED had conducted raids on officials of Delhi Jal Board and officials of Delhi-NCR, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu in various private organizations’ places. ED had conducted search operations on July 24, 2023, and November 17, 2023, where many important documents and evidence were seized.

It emerged during the investigation that the work given to NKG Infrastructure Limited was not completed to its technical qualifications. NKG Infrastructure had procured the tender by making fake documents. Jagdish Kumar Arora was aware of this.

ED has also found out during the investigation that after getting the tender, NKG Infrastructure had also made Integral Screws Limited, a company owned by Anil Kumar Agrawal, a partner. In return, Anil Kumar Agrawal had given Jagdish Kumar Arora about Rs. 3 crore in two bank accounts. Jagdish Kumar Arora had also received some money from his close friends.

ED has found out about many benami properties of Jagdish Kumar Arora, which he was managing with the help of his chartered accountant.

Case 2:

Automatic machines were to be installed at various places for the collection of Delhi Jal Board bills. Machines were installed, but the bills were not paid, and the money never reached the Delhi Jal Board’s account.

M/s Freshpay IT Solutions Pvt Ltd and M/s Aurum e-Payments Pvt Ltd were initially given a contract for three years. The contract was extended over time. Even then, the company never paid the bills to the Delhi Jal Board.

During the investigation, it has also come to light that about Rs. 10 crores 40 lakhs were paid once, but that also did not reach the Delhi Jal Board. In this case, Delhi Jal Board has incurred a loss of about Rs. 14 crores 41 lakhs. This amount is still pending with the company.

Under Interpol Exchange, Bibhav Kumar, Kejriwal’s associate secretary, was provided accommodation by the Delhi Jal Board, although he is not a government employee. This matter was investigated in 2023.

The court will continue to hear the matter related to the Delhi liquor policy case…

Court: Are the accused present in court?

Lawyer: Yes, they are in court, and you can grant bail bonds. After this, Kejriwal can leave, and proceedings can continue.

Court: The bail bond of Rs 15,000 is approved. Kejriwal can leave the court. The lawyers should remain in court.

ED: Please look at the notes for this case once.

Court: The allegations are bailable, and the accused has demanded bail.

Court: Do you want to submit your response?

ED: Our only concern is that Kejriwal is delaying tactics. They are demanding delays in the investigation.

Lawyer: The hearing of this case should be scheduled for Monday.

Court: We need to address your response to the allegations first. It will be better if this matter is heard next Friday.

ED: That’s fine.

Court: The accused is ordered to appear in court on March 21, 2024, for questioning in the Delhi Jal Board money laundering case. The case hearing will take place next Friday.

Court: We will move on to the next case.

This is the status of the cases against Kejriwal.

Kejriwal’s Lawyer Says CM Responded to Every Question by ED

Advocate-General S.V. Raju appeared before the special judge (CBI) Rakesh Saini in a single bench court on March 15th. Meanwhile, senior advocates Ramesh Gupta and Rajeev Mohan represented Kejriwal’s lawyers. The lawyers of Kejriwal stated that the Chief Minister of Delhi has responded to every question posed by the ED. They mentioned that as the Chief Minister, he couldn’t have appeared before the ED himself. Before filing a complaint in court, Kejriwal was not given any notice to disclose reasons.

When on February 5th, Kejriwal did not appear before the CBI for questioning regarding the 2G spectrum case, the ED had applied to the Delhi High Court. Kejriwal had appeared virtually in court on February 14th due to discussions on the confidence motion and the budget session in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Subsequently, the court had fixed the date for the next hearing on March 16th.