The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in response to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) petition challenging his acquittal in two cases related to skipping summons in the Delhi excise policy case.
A bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma sought Kejriwal's response in the ED's petition against the January 22 order and set April 29 as the next hearing date.
The ED had issued three summons to Kejriwal in 2023, but later filed two complaints in February and March 2024, claiming that Kejriwal raised frivolous objections and deliberately created grounds showing he intentionally did not want to obey the summons.
The additional chief judicial magistrate Paras Dalal of Rouse Avenue Courts acquitted Kejriwal, holding that the ED issued summons to Kejriwal through the e-mail mode, which did not stand the test of law under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The judgment also held that the prosecution failed to prove the accused's intentional disobedience of the summons beyond a reasonable doubt, hence entitling the accused to exoneration.
