Delhi excise policy scam: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in reference to the excise policy scam. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief has been summoned for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the case. This comes six months after he was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) associated to the matter.
The Delhi Chief Minister has been issued the summons below the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to the sources, the company will document his assertion as soon as he seems before the investigating officer of the case in Delhi. However, the ruling AAP has kept away from talking about whether or not the Chief Minister will appear before the ED or not.
CBI questioned Kejriwal in April
After being requested round 56 questions by the CBI in April relating to the liquor scam, Kejriwal had described the whole matter as “fabricated” and an try to destabilize the AAP. This is the primary time that he has been summoned by the ED. In its chargesheets submitted in the case, the ED talked about Kejriwal’s identify a number of occasions and claimed that the accused had been in contact with him concerning the Delhi Excise Policy 2021–2022.
What stems Kejriwal’s questioning?
Butchibabu, an accountant allegedly linked to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief Ok Kavitha, is alleged to have acknowledged in one of many chargesheets filed by the ED that “there was a political understanding between Kavitha, CM Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.” “In that process, Kavitha also met Vijay Nair (AAP communications in-charge arrested in the case) on March 19-20, 2021,” Butchibabu acknowledged, as claimed by the ED.
In one other occasion involving arrested accused Dinesh Arora, the ED stated he informed the company that he had met Kejriwal as soon as at his residence. Similarly, the ED chargesheet stated YSRCP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy additionally held conferences with Kejriwal, whereby the AAP chief welcomed his entry into the Delhi liquor enterprise. It had stated Buchibabu and one other accused, Arun Pillai, have revealed that they and Nair had been working with the “support and sanction” of Kejriwal and Sisodia for all of the excise policy-related actions, together with its formulation and implementation.
Manish Sisodia in jail
Notably, Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the case in February this yr. The ED arrested Sisodia in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar jail. His bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this week. The high courtroom rejected two separate bail pleas of Sisodia in corruption and money-laundering instances associated to the alleged excise policy scam and stated a switch of Rs 338 crore was tentatively established in the matter.
Based on a report of the chief secretary of the Delhi authorities, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena really helpful a CBI probe in July final yr into alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the policy. The report cited numerous alleged irregularities together with a waiver of Rs 144 crore to the retail licensees below the policy in the identify of COVID-19-impacted gross sales and a refund of Rs 30 crore to a profitable bidder for the airport zone who failed to receive a no objection certificates for opening liquor shops there.
Delhi excise policy scam
It is alleged that the Delhi authorities’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor merchants allowed cartelisation and favoured sure sellers who allegedly paid bribes for it, a cost strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor really helpful a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in its implementation. Following this, the ED registered a case below the PMLA.
(With inputs from PTI)
