Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also termed the summons as "illegal".
Kejriwal was required to present himself before the agency at its office to provide his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In the DJB case, the ED has claimed that funds obtained through corruption in a contract awarded by the Delhi government's department were allegedly channelled as election funds to the AAP, the ruling party in Delhi.
ED conducted raids last month
In February, the ED conducted raids at the residences of Kejriwal's personal assistant, a Rajya Sabha MP from AAP, a former DJB member, a chartered accountant, and others as part of this probe. The ED's case is based on a CBI FIR alleging irregularities in a DJB contract awarded to a company -- NKG Infrastructure Ltd -- for a sum of Rs 38 crore even though the company "did not meet" the technical eligibility criteria.
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested individuals linked to the contract, alleging that kickbacks were involved in awarding the contract and these funds were subsequently used for illicit purposes, including as election funds for the AAP.
ED arrests two DJB officials
Among those arrested were former chief engineer of DJB Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal in this case on January 31. The ED claimed that NKG Infrastructure Ltd obtained the bid by submitting "forged" documents and Arora "was aware of the fact that the company does not meet the technical eligibility".
The ED has also alleged that the DJB contract was inflated to facilitate the collection of bribes from contractors, further asserting that a significant portion of the contract value was diverted through fake expenses for illicit activities.
(With PTI inputs)
