Arvind Kejriwal replies to ED, says summons politically motivated, illegal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent his reply to the ED summons calling them illegal and politically motivated the AAP leader said on Thursday reported news agency PTIKejriwal was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the excise policylinked money laundering case on Thursday However he left for an undisclosed location for a 10day Vipassana meditation course on WednesdayI am ready to accept every legal summons This summons of ED is also illegal like the previous ones EDs summons are politically motivated They should be withdrawn I lived my life with honesty and transparency I have nothing to hide CM Arvind Kejriwal said in a statement on Thursday reported news agency ANIKejriwal was scheduled to leave for the Vipassana course on Tuesday but could not do so as he was busy with the INDIA bloc meeting He left at around 130 pm on Wednesday for the prescheduled meditation course officials saidThe Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday questioned the timing of the summons saying the partys lawyers are studying the notice and legally correct steps will be taken reported ANIThey said Kejriwals Vipassana session was prescheduled and the information was in the public domainEveryone knows the chief minister is leaving for Vipassana on December 19 He regularly goes for this meditation course Its a prescheduled and preannounced plan AAP MP Raghav Chadha had said reported ANIMeanwhile AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi launched a scathing attack on the BJPled Centre over the summons issued to the CM saying that the saffron party uses central probe agencies to intimidate and silence leaders of the Opposition reported ANIShe asserted that the AAP wont bow down to such threats by the ED and the CBIHitting out at the BJPled Centre Atishi said it fears Kejriwals model of governance which is why leaders of the ruling AAP were being hounded by the central agencies and put in jailIt is clear the BJP are scared of the Aam Aadmi Party and the model of governance of our leader Arvind Kejriwal which is why the leaders of our party are being thrown in jail one by one The BJP are using agencies at their disposal to scare us Atishi told ANIThe Delhi CM was first called by the federal agency to appear for questioning on November 2 but he skipped the summons claiming it to be vague motivated and unsustainable in law reported ANIThe said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned ie as a witness or a suspect in the abovementioned case Please recall the said summons which is to say the least is vague and motivated and I am advised unsustainable in law Kejriwal stated in his letter to Jogendar assistant director ED after being summoned earlier reported ANIKejriwal was earlier summoned by the CBI in April this year in connection with the same caseHowever the CM was not named as an accused in the FIR filed by the CBI on August 17 last yearIn February 2023 Kejriwals Deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the nowscrapped Delhis new excise policyWith inputs from PTI and ANI