The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal regarding a second money laundering case associated with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), according to official sources on Sunday.
Kejriwal has been called upon to provide his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the agency's office on A P J Abdul Kalam Road on March 18, the sources stated.
This marks the second instance where the 55-year-old politician, also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been summoned under the anti-money laundering law.
He is already facing summons in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. Kejriwal has disregarded eight summonses in this matter, terming them illegal. A fresh and ninth notice in the excise policy case requires him to appear before the ED investigating officer on March 21.
Responding to the summons in the second case, Delhi minister Atishi told reporters on Sunday, "The details of this DJB case remain unclear. It appears to be a strategy to arrest Kejriwal and hinder his campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls."
In the DJB case, the ED alleges that bribe money generated from corruption in a contract issued by the Delhi government's department was funneled as election funds to the AAP, which currently governs the national capital.
In February, the ED conducted raids at the premises of Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar, AAP Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta, former DJB member Shalabh Kumar, chartered accountant Pankaj Mangal, and others as part of this investigation.
The ED's case is based on a CBI FIR alleging that former chief engineer of DJB, Jagdish Kumar Arora, awarded a contract to a company NKG Infrastructure Ltd for Rs 38 crore despite the company not meeting the technical eligibility criteria.
Arora and a contractor named Anil Kumar Aggarwal were arrested by the ED on January 31 in this case.
According to the ED, NKG Infrastructure Ltd obtained the bid using forged documents, and Arora was aware of the company's lack of technical eligibility.
The agency claims that Arora received bribes in cash and through bank accounts after awarding the contract to NKG Infrastructure Ltd., which were then passed on to various individuals managing affairs at DJB, including those associated with AAP.
The ED has accused AAP of receiving kickbacks in two cases, including the scrapped excise policy of 2021-22 allegedly used for campaigning in Goa assembly elections.
The agency alleges that the DJB contract was inflated to collect bribes from contractors, with only about Rs 17 crore of the Rs 38 crore contract value being spent, while the rest was siphoned off under the guise of fake expenses, including bribes and election funds.
Delhi minister Atishi claimed in a press briefing after the raids that the agency officials seized only two Gmail account downloads and three family phones from Bibhav Kumar's living room.
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