Delhi Court Grants Exemption to Arvind Kejriwal in Money Laundering Case

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was excused from making a personal appearance in court on Saturday in Delhi due to a complaint the ED filed against him for failing to show up for a summons in a money laundering case involving the now-canceled excise policy.

Kejriwal was given respite by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra after the AAP leader used videoconferencing to appear in court and requested a day's reprieve from making a personal appearance.


Kejriwal informed the court that the Delhi Assembly's current budget session prevented him from appearing before it.

Senior attorney Ramesh Gupta, representing Kejriwal, informed the court that the chief minister of Delhi would personally appear before it on the next hearing date.

The case has been postponed by the court until March 16.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in its complaint that the chief minister of Delhi continued to provide "lame excuses" and purposefully refused to comply with the summonses. The agency said that it would "set a wrong example for the common man i.e. the "Aam Aadmi"" if a high-ranking public functionary like him disregarded the law.

As per the judge's previous ruling, there is enough evidence to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal for the alleged offense under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on the substance of the complaint and the material presented in court.

"Accordingly, issue summons to accused Arvind Kejriwal for the offence under Section 174 of the IPC for February 17, 2024," said the court.

The IPC's Section 174 addresses failing to appear in court after receiving instructions from a public official.

On February 3, the ED filed a new complaint against Kejriwal for failing to appear at its summonses.

The summonses that the AAP convenor had received were described as "illegal and politically motivated" in a previous letter to the ED. He had claimed that the summonses were sent to keep him from participating in election campaigns.

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