The Central Bureau of Investigation issued new summons on Saturday to Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, asking him to appear at the agency’s headquarters on Sunday in connection with its investigation into the now-scrapped liquor policy.
Sisodia and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal hit out at the Union government, both accusing it of using federal agencies as a tool for political vendetta and to stop the deputy CM’s work.
“CBI has again called me tomorrow (Sunday). They (Centre) have used the full power of the CBI and the ED (Enforcement Directorate) against me; raided my house; searched bank locker but nothing was found. I have made arrangements for good education for the children in Delhi. They want to stop it. I have always cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so,” Sisodia said in a tweet.
Sisodia, an officer aware of the matter said, has been asked to appear at 11am at the CBI headquarters. This person, who asked not to be named, said the agency had certain leads in the case that needed investigation and, therefore, Sisodia was asked to join the investigation again.
At a press conference later, Kejriwal said: “There is no liquor scam. It was a very transparent policy made by us. The same policy when implemented in Punjab led to 48% excise revenue growth. The case is part of a political conspiracy and political vendetta. Manish will go tomorrow, ultimately truth will prevail.”
While there was no official comment on the matter from CBI, the agency after filing the charge sheet in November had said in a statement that “irregularities were committed including in modifications in Excise Policy, extending undue favours to the licencees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, extension of L-1 license without approval etc”.
The BJP on Saturday asked why the AAP government withdrew the policy if there were no irregularities in its implementation.
“After the arrest of Vijay Nayyar in the liquor scam, the CM said Nayyar was innocent and his arrest has been done to disrupt our Gujarat election campaign. If Vijay Nayyar is not guilty in the liquor scam, then even after his repeated attempts why is he not getting bail from the court,” Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva and leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri asked at a press conference.
“Despite government claiming that the new liquor policy has increased the income of the Delhi government, why has there been a loss of ₹3000 crore while the sale of liquor has increased but the revenue income has decreased?” they asked.
The controversy relates to the Delhi government’s excise policy rolled out for the 2021-22 financial year in November 2021. The policy marked the exit of the government from retail sales of alcohol and allowing private companies to bid for licenses — the objective, the government said, was to improve the buying experience for citizens by allowing market competition to raise standards.
But the policy was scrapped when the lieutenant governor VK Saxena asked for an investigation, citing a report by the chief secretary who alleged irregularities. AAP and the Capital’s elected government have rejected the charges, alleging it to be a ploy by the BJP-controlled Union government to target rivals.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was last questioned by the anti-corruption agency on October 17 for almost nine hours. CBI has named him as a key accused in its first information report (FIR) filed on August 17 last year, alleging that he was instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to the excise policy 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority.
But in the charge sheet that the agency has filed, the deputy CM has not been named.
The ED is carrying out a related money laundering investigation. In its charge sheet filed on January 6, the agency cited Sisodia’s secretary C Arvind’s statement to allege that the decision to fix 12% profit margin for wholesale private entities was conveyed to him at Kejriwal’s residence in mid-March 2021.
To probe a larger conspiracy between leaders of AAP and politicians from the South, ED this week questioned Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who allegedly represented the so-called South Group, particularly — K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in the excise policy irregularities, people familiar with the development said.
Pillai’s questioning came a week after another member of the South Group — Raghav Magunta Reddy, son of YSR Congress member of parliament Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy — was arrested by the ED.
After arresting Raghav last week, the ED had claimed that “the main aim of the entire Delhi liquor scam rests on the conspiracy orchestrated by the South Group with the AAP leaders.”
All the others named by ED have also denied the charges, calling them as baseless and fabricated.