Leaders being framed to finish AAP: Minister

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday said its leaders were being framed in false cases in an "attempt to finish" it even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied any witch-hunt and insisted Delhi's ruling party had brought the troubles upon itself through its now-scrapped excise policy.

Delhi minister Atishi said the news is that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will arrest chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whom the agency has asked to appear before it on Thursday in connection with the money laundering probe in the case.

ED has called the policy Kejriwal's brainchild in one of its five charge sheets.

The summons to Kejriwal were issued hours after the Supreme Court on Monday refused bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with allegations of financial irregularities in the policy.

The court found at least one charge of windfall gains of ₹338 crore made by wholesalers was "tentatively established" even as it punched holes in some of the arguments and evidence presented while ordering the trial be completed in six to eight months.

It allowed Sisodia to seek bail again in three months if the proceedings drag on "at a snail's pace".

The order prompted the BJP to demand Kejriwal's resignation even as the AAP said it would consider seeking a review.