The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on two petitions filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal challenging summons issued to him by a trial court in the Delhi excise policy case.

Justice Ravinder Dudeja directed the ED to file its reply, allowing it to raise preliminary objections in its affidavit. The matter is now scheduled to be heard on September 10.

The ED had filed complaint cases against Kejriwal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he repeatedly failed to appear for questioning despite being served with summons. On the basis of these complaints, a magistrate court issued two summons to him.

Kejriwal’s petitions challenge both the trial court's summons and the September 17, 2024, order of the sessions court that dismissed his earlier challenge.

Appearing for the ED, Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain objected to the maintainability of the pleas, arguing that similar grounds had already been rejected earlier and that a second revision plea is impermissible.

The money laundering case arises from alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped 2021–22 Delhi excise policy, with enforcement agencies claiming that loopholes were deliberately introduced to favour liquor licensees in exchange for kickbacks. The ED and CBI allege that the proceeds were used to fund the AAP’s Goa election campaign.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 and subsequently by the CBI in June. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the ED case on July 12, followed by bail in the CBI case on September 13.