In a significant growth, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on November 2 in reference to the Delhi excise policy case.
This comes after the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the bail pleas of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in reference to corruption and money-laundering instances involving now-scrapped excise policy for the nationwide capital.
The verdict was pronounced by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, which had reserved its verdict on October 17 on each pleas.
Sisodia’s arrest
On February 26, Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged position within the “scam”. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief has been in custody since then. The ED arrested Sisodia in a money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him within the Tihar jail.
On October 17, the apex court docket had knowledgeable ED that it might be difficult to determine Sisodia’s money-laundering case if a bribe purportedly acquired for altering the Delhi excise policy will not be included within the predicate offence. It had knowledgeable the federal company that it couldn’t function beneath the presumption that bribes had been paid and that it was needed to supply any authorized protections.
Why did the HC deny bail to Sisodia?
The excessive court docket denied him bail within the CBI case on May 30, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he’s a “high-profile” one who has the potential to affect the witnesses. On July 3, the excessive court docket declined him bail within the money-laundering case linked to alleged irregularities within the metropolis authorities’s excise policy, holding that the costs towards him are “very serious in nature”.
The Delhi authorities had applied the policy on November 17, 2021, however scrapped it on the finish of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. According to the investigating companies, the revenue margins of wholesalers had been elevated from 5 to 12 per cent beneath the brand new policy.
The ED’s cash laundering case stems from the CBI FIR. According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities had been dedicated whereas modifying the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and undue favours had been prolonged to licence holders.
The companies have alleged that the brand new policy resulted in cartelisation and people ineligible for liquor licences had been favoured for financial advantages. However, the Delhi authorities and Sisodia have denied any wrongdoing and stated the brand new policy would have led to a rise within the State’s income share.
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