NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's decision to skip the Enforcement Directorate's summons to appear before it on Thursday in connection with the liquor policy case came as a surprise to the agency, with sources attributing what they termed the CM's "last-minute rethink" to "poor legal advice".
Saying that fresh summons would be issued to the Delhi CM in order to ensure compliance with Supreme Court's directive for early completion of trial in the case, sources in the agency said the reasons cited by Kejriwal - his close involvement with AAP's campaign for the ongoing assembly elections in five states and the need for him to give guidance to party workers - only served to justify the summons to him.
In his letter to the ED, Kejriwal said being the "incumbent CM of Delhi and national convenor of AAP... he is required to travel for campaigning (in MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram) and to provide political guidance to field workers (of AAP)".
"Such close engagement with the party's campaign shows that he could not have possibly been unaware of the alleged use of 'proceeds of crime' from the liquor scam for the party's Goa campaign," an ED source said, an indication that the investigators could point to the ground taken by Kejriwal to ask him about the level of his involvement in AAP's campaign for the last assembly elections in Goa, in particular whether he knew and was involved in the use of bribes from the liquor scam in the Goa campaign.
The source said it was a query from the Supreme Court last month - which 'tentatively' accepted the ED's allegation that Rs 338 crore of bribes generated from the liquor scam was used in Goa - as to why the agency had not questioned the AAP leadership when it had alleged that the bribes were used for the Goa campaign, that led the agency to inform the court that it intends to question AAP's leadership, setting the stage for summons for Kejriwal. However, the next day, the SC had clarified that the query was "just a legal question and not to implicate any political party".
Sources dismissed Kejriwal's allegation that the ED was acting at BJP's instance, asserting that the anti-money laundering agency was a professional entity which carried out investigations as per Standard Operating Procedures which list the do's and don'ts in extensive detail to ensure integrity of investigation.
"Like in the case of other probes, our investigation has been subjected to judicial scrutiny at different levels," said a senior official. He also said the agency carries out its investigation discreetly and so far as the issue of leaks is concerned, "the boot is, frankly, on the other foot".
"It is the AAP leaders who have disclosed ED's communications in public domain. This was evident on Thursday morning when we came to know about Kejriwal's letter declaring his decision to skip the summons through social media. We have kept mum even when the accused in the case have made false claims and misinterpreted our communications," the source said, and rebutted Kejriwal's claim that the summons issued to him were vague. "On the contrary, we have been very specific and have a precise objective: to ensure speedy trial as desired by the SC," he added.
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