The Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw his petition challenging the summonses issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia dismissed the petition as withdrawn after Kejriwal’s counsel informed the court that he did not wish to pursue the matter further in light of his acquittal in criminal cases related to non-compliance with the ED summonses.
“Much water has flown… I will not press the petition. I will take the constitutional pleas at an appropriate stage,” his senior counsel submitted before the court.
The bench noted the submission and clarified that all legal contentions raised in the petition were left open.
Kejriwal had moved the High Court after the ED issued its ninth summons to him on March 21, 2024, asking him to appear for questioning in the money laundering case. On March 20, the High Court had sought a response from the ED on the maintainability of his plea. A day later, it directed the ED to also respond to Kejriwal’s prayer for protection from arrest, although it declined to grant interim relief at that stage. He was arrested by the ED that same evening.
On January 22, a trial court had acquitted Kejriwal in two criminal complaints filed against him for not appearing before the ED. It held that:
“The legal challenge to due service of summons is maintainable,”
and
“The ED failed to prove that Kejriwal intentionally disobeyed the summonses.”
The court also observed that Kejriwal, being a serving Chief Minister at the time, enjoyed his fundamental right to movement.
Appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju informed the High Court that the agency intends to challenge the trial court’s acquittal of Kejriwal.
Kejriwal is currently on interim bail in the ED’s money laundering case. The Supreme Court, which granted him bail, has referred the question of the “need and necessity of arrest” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to a larger bench for authoritative interpretation.
He was also arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the excise corruption case on June 26, 2024, but secured bail from the Supreme Court on September 13, 2024.
In the withdrawn petition, Kejriwal had raised several constitutional challenges to provisions of the PMLA, particularly those related to arrest, interrogation, and bail. He also questioned whether political parties could be brought under the scope of the anti-money laundering framework.
The petition alleged that the PMLA was being selectively used to target opposition leaders and create a “non-level playing field” ahead of the general elections, skewing the process in favour of the ruling party at the Centre. It claimed that Kejriwal, a prominent opposition leader and member of the INDIA bloc, was being targeted through the ED, which it described as having been “weaponised.”
According to the ED, various accused persons in the excise policy case were in contact with Kejriwal during the formulation of the now-scrapped policy, which allegedly facilitated kickbacks to the AAP and illegal benefits to liquor traders.
