ED summons Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi liquor policy case

He has to present himself at the Delhi office of the central agency on November 2.

In April, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned Kejriwal for questioning in the same case.

The summons came hours after the Supreme Court rejected the bail plea of his former Deputy Manish Sisodia, who is the prime accused in the case.

A money trail of Rs. 338 crore has been tentatively established in the case, said the judges, who earlier insisted that a chain of evidence must be established.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, which took up the bail pleas, has directed the conclusion of the trial procedure within six to eight months.

Sisodia has been in jail since he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26.

The top Aam Aadmi Party (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 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.

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