"Some people think they are above law": Dharmendra Pradhan takes dig at Kejriwal over ED summons
Dec 24, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 24 : After the Enforcement Directorate summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday took a dig and said that those who used to talk about public accountability are using tactics to hide their corruption.
"Those who used to talk about public accountability are using tactics to hide their corruption. They have made it a jest. Those who indulge in theft have to face agencies. Some people think they are above the law but no matter how powerful they are, they have to show respect towards it. Today, transparency has increased so much that nobody can escape be it Arvind Kejriwal or Rahul Gandhi," Dharmendra Pradhan told ANI.
The ED on Friday issued a summon to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case and has asked him to appear before the central agency on January 3.
Kejriwal was earlier summoned by the ED in connection with an excise policy case on December 18, asking him to appear before the central agency for questioning on December 21.
The Delhi CM was first called by the central agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose, alleging that the notice was "vague, motivated and unsustainable in law."
"The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect in the above-mentioned case. Please recall the said summons, which is, to say the least, vague and motivated and I am advised, unsustainable in law," Kejriwal had stated in his letter to Jogendar, Assistant Director, ED.
Delhi Chief Minister was also summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April this year, in connection with the case.
However, Kejriwal was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, last year. In February 2023, Arvind Kejriwal's Deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi's new excise policy. The policy was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the opposition.
