NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to several people, including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and BRS leader K Kavitha, in response to a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging a trial court’s order.
The order had directed the ED to provide “unrelied documents” to the accused in the alleged money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, presiding over the matter, sought responses from all 40 accused in the case, which also includes AAP MP Sanjay Singh and several businessmen.
The court scheduled the next hearing for January 30, 2025, while also considering the ED’s application for a stay on the trial court’s directive.
In November, the trial court instructed the ED to supply the accused with the chargesheet and digitised versions of “unrelied documents” (evidence not relied upon by the prosecution to substantiate its case).
The ED contended that this directive went against a Supreme Court ruling, arguing that only a list of unrelied-upon documents have to be given at this stage and not the documents.
The trial court is set to revisit the case on December 21.The money laundering allegations stem from a CBI investigation initiated at the recommendation of Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena.
According to the ED and CBI, irregularities in the 2021 excise policy involved modifications favouring license holders, potentially resulting in corruption.The Delhi government introduced the excise policy on November 17, 2021, but later scrapped it in September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.