Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal skips ED summons in excise policy scam case

He was asked to appear before the probe agency at 11 am.

Kejriwal, who heads Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), will head to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh to campaign for his party.

The Chief Minister, who is one of the prime opponents of the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), called the summons "illegal" and "politically motivated".

He asked the central probe agency to withdraw the summons.

The AAP supremo claimed in a letter to the ED director that he has been summoned at the behest of BJP, which wants to prevent him from campaigning in four states- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, which will go to polls in November.

The probe agency is investigating the Delhi excise policy which has handed over liquor shop licences to private players.

The CBI alleges that liquor companies and middlemen were "actively involved in irregularities in the framing and implementation" of the excise policy.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Kejriwal's colleague in the party, Manish Sisodia, is already in jail in the same case as the prime accused.

A few days ago, the Supreme Court rejected the bail plea of Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26.

The AAP leader, who held several portfolios including education and finance in the city government, can reapply for bail if the trial proceeds at a slower pace, said the top court.

The agency also claims close associates of  Sisodia - Amit Arora, Dinesh Arora, and Arjun Pandey - collected commissions from liquor licensees and delivered them to the accused public servants.