Arvind Kejriwal (PTI file photo)
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in two cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate over his failure to appear before the agency in the Delhi excise policy probe.The order was passed by additional chief judicial magistrate Paras Dalal at the Rouse Avenue Courts. The Enforcement Directorate had approached the court in February 2024, seeking action against Kejriwal for not complying with summons issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency said Kejriwal had not appeared despite being summoned five times in connection with its investigation.The money laundering probe stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 17, 2022, over alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy for 2021–22.The CBI case was based on a complaint filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on July 20, 2022. Following this, the ED registered its own case on August 22, 2022, to investigate the money laundering angle.Kejriwal was later arrested in the main excise policy case. He was eventually granted bail by the Supreme Court.The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution. According to CBI and ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, and undue favours were extended to licence holders.AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was also acquitted on Thursday in one case and discharged in another related to his alleged non-compliance with summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi Waqf Board Money laundering case.
