NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to grant Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal protection from coercive action in the alleged excise policy scam case.
It told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to reply to Kejriwal's plea by April 22.
The application for interim relief forms part of Kejriwal's petition challenging the summonses issued to him for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate.
Kejriwal had moved the court in the wake of the latest summons, the ninth issued by the ED, asking him to appear before it on Thursday. He has repeatedly refused to appear before the agency, calling the summonses illegal.
On Wednesday, the court had asked him why he was not appearing before the agency.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the petitioner in the matter, had then said his client would appear before the ED but protection from coercive action was required because of the agency's "clear intent" to apprehend him with elections around the corner.
In the petition, Kejriwal has said the arbitrary procedure under PMLA was being employed to create a non-level playing field for the upcoming general elections to "skew the electoral process in the favour of the ruling party at the Centre".
(With PTI inputs)