After HC jolt to Kejriwal, ED team reaches Delhi CM's residence for questioning

New Delhi, March 21: An ED team reached Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Thursday evening, hours after the Delhi High Court denied him protection against "coercive action" by the agency, which has issued multiple summons to him.

"The ED is likely to question him in the alleged excise policy scam," said agency sources.

There was heavy police deployment around the Chief Minister's residence.

On Thursday, Kejriwal skipped the ED’s ninth summons in the Delhi liquor policy case.

Earlier during the day, a division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain, after hearing the arguments from both sides, declined to pass any order granting interim relief on Kejriwal’s plea.

The bench on Wednesday asked CM Kejriwal as to why he doesn't appear before the probe agency in response to the summons.

On Thursday, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Arvind Kejriwal, contended that the ED's summons lacked clarity regarding the capacity in which Kejriwal was called to appear, accusing the agency of attempting to create an uneven playing field ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

In response, ASG S.V. Raju, along with special counsel Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), opposed granting interim relief (to Arvind Kejriwal), saying that the law must be applied uniformly to all individuals, regardless of their position.

He clarified that Kejriwal was summoned in his personal capacity, and not as the Chief Minister or the Aam Aadmi Party chief, as he stressed the necessity for the Delhi CM's interrogation based on the available evidence.

The ED had issued its first summons to Kejriwal in October last year, the second in December, and the third summon to appear before it for questioning on January 3.

It had summoned him for the fourth time on January 13, asking him to appear before it on January 18, before issuing its fifth summons to Kejriwal, telling him to appear before the agency on February 2.

On February 19, Kejriwal skipped the ED’s sixth summons in connection with the excise policy case. The agency issued the eighth summons to Kejriwal asking him to appear before it on March 4, after he skipped the seventh summons issued on February 22. The ninth summons was scheduled for March 21.

The ED has also issued summons to CM Kejriwal in the Delhi Jal Board case.