Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, once again, failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday. The present summons was this time issued to Kejriwal regarding a money laundering case associated with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board. This marked the first time Kejriwal was summoned in this particular case.

Terming the summons “illegal,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the BJP government of orchestrating a ploy to hinder opposition leaders’ election campaigning. The AAP questioned the rationale behind the continuous issuance of summons despite bail being granted by the court for missing previous summons.

At a press conference, Delhi minister Atishi expressed apprehensions regarding the motives behind these actions, suggesting that the DJB case might serve as a pretext to arrest Kejriwal and impede his participation in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In connection with the Delhi Jal Board case, the ED alleged that funds acquired through corruption in a government contract were diverted as election funds to AAP, the ruling party in Delhi.

This summons marks the second case under the anti-money laundering law in which Kejriwal has been called for questioning. He has previously skipped eight summonses in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, also dubbing them as illegal.