New Delhi, February 26: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the seventh Enforcement Directorate summons to him in connection with the money laundering probe linked to the Delhi excise policy scam case, saying he will appear before the agency if a court orders him to do so. Kejriwal, who on Monday visited Rajghat along with ministers and MLAs of the AAP to mark one year of the arrest of his former deputy Manish Sisodia in connection with the case, alleged that the summons was a tool to pressure him into leaving the INDIA block.

He asserted the AAP would not break its alliance with the Congress, another constituent of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), with which his party has entered into a seat-sharing deal in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat for the Lok Sabha polls. A city court, approached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over Kejriwal skipping its summonses, has directed the Delhi chief minister to appear before it on March 16. Nobel Prize Should Be Given to Arvind Kejriwal for Playing Victimhood Card, Says BJP Leader Shehzad Poonawalla After Delhi CM Skips Seventh ED Summons (Watch Video)

The AAP convener sought to know whether the Union government and the ED do not trust the court and said the probe agency itself moved the court in the matter and they should now wait for its order. Kejriwal has so far skipped seven summonses by the ED. The agency issued the seventh summons to the Delhi chief minister last week, asking him to appear before it for questioning. "If the court says go, then I will go," Kejriwal said. Kejriwal and his party have alleged that the summonses issued by the ED were "illegal". Arvind Kejriwal ED Summon: AAP National Convenor Not To Appear Before Enforcement Directorate Today, Say Sources

Kejriwal Skips 7th ED Summons

"They want us to break the alliance. Their message basically is that we should quit the alliance," he said, claiming there were informal messages to that effect from different quarters. Kejriwal complained that ED has been issuing him summons after summons even as the court was hearing the matter. Earlier the day, the AAP said that Kejriwal would not appear before the ED, adding the agency should wait for the court order instead of sending summonses. The ED, while issuing the seventh summons, had rejected the contention that a fresh notice for Kejriwal's attendance was wrong as the matter was sub-judice before a local court.