Liquor Policy Case: Delhi HC Seeks ED's Reply on Arvind Kejriwal's Challenge to Trial Court Order
High Court issued notice to the ED in Kejriwal's plea, directing it to file a counter-affidavit within six weeks;
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, asked the Enforcement Directorate to respond to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal's plea assailing the trial court order upholding the summons issued in the money laundering case related to the now-defunct liquor excise policy.
As per Kejriwal’s petition, he has contested a trial court order dated September 17, 2024, which had rejected his challenge to a magisterial court’s summons issued on March 7, 2024.
In a separate challenge, he has also assailed a sessions court order dated December 20, 2024, which upheld the magisterial court’s decision declining his request to transfer the case to a different court.
A bench presided over by Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notice to the ED in both pleas filed by Kejriwal. The bench directed the investigative agency to file its response within six weeks.
The matter has been listed for hearing on September 10.
During the course of proceedings, the ED raised preliminary objections regarding the maintainability of the petitions.
ED's counsel said that Kejriwal's petition amounted to a second revision disguised as a plea under Section 482 CrPC.
The High Court, however, directed the ED to include these objections in its affidavit.
In November 2024, the High Court had issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate in a petition filed by Arvind Kejriwal challenging the summons issued to him on ED’s complaints in the money laundering case.
The CBI registered a case in August 2022 for alleged corruption in the formulation of the Delhi Excise Policy. The ED initiated a parallel investigation under PMLA, issuing several summonses to Kejriwal between October 2023 and February 2024. Kejriwal submitted written responses but did not appear in person, leading to the filing of the complaint cases.
Notably, the CBI is probing the alleged irregularities in the formulation of the excise policy. On the other hand, the ED is investigating the money laundering aspect arising from it.
The Delhi liquor policy was introduced in November 2021 and rolled back by September 2022 after allegations of corruption.
Several senior AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, are named in the ongoing investigation into the alleged scam.