Overview
- Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal cleared Kejriwal of IPC Section 174 charges tied to alleged non-appearance to Section 50 PMLA summons in the excise-policy matter.
- The court held the ED did not prove that email service of summons was valid under the PMLA or CrPC and noted the absence of required Section 65B certification for electronic records.
- The order states that mere non-appearance does not amount to wilful disobedience and faults investigators for not verifying the reasons Kejriwal cited for not attending.
- In a related decision, the court acquitted AAP leader Amanatullah Khan in a Waqf Board money-laundering summons case and discharged him in another similar complaint.
- The acquittals apply only to summons-related complaints, while the broader CBI and ED probes that began after the Lieutenant Governor’s 2022 complaint continue, with Kejriwal on interim bail following his 2024 arrest.