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By Sreya Chatterjee: There is no liquor policy scam, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, slamming the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He said the probe agencies lied in their affidavit and Manish Sisodia was falsely accused in the case.
This came a day after the CBI summoned Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. He was asked to appear at the agency headquarters at 11 am on Sunday as a witness in the case.
Kejriwal said the ED and CBI misled the court and lied under oath to frame Sisodia. He added that appropriate cases will be filed against the two agencies for “perjury and producing false evidence”. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in February in connection with the case.
He said the two central agencies are “catching hold of someone or the other every day and are being threatened, tortured mentally and physically”, forcing them to name Delhi ministers in connection with the case.
The Delhi CM said people were beaten by the ED and Arun Pillai and Sameer Mahendu were “tortured” to take names. “This is their investigation. I wanna ask the prime minister, what is happening?” said Kejriwal during a press conference.
He also slammed the ED’s statement that there were Rs 100 crore kickbacks from the now-scrapped liquor policy and said, “Where is this 100 crore? Raids have been conducted everywhere, Manish Sisodia’s bed was torn open, yet, not even a single piece of jewellery has been recovered.”
Denying the ED’s charge that the money was used for election campaigning in Goa, he said, “They have raided every vendor which we employed. They took the statement of every vendor and haven’t been able to find anything yet.”
Addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kejriwal said, “Modiji, if Kejriwal is corrupt, no one is honest.” Kejriwal said former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik alleged that some chief ministers under PM Modi are corrupt. “But the chief minister don’t keep the money to themselves. They send it to the higher authorities. From there, the money gets invested into the companies of their friends,” said Kejriwal, citing Malik.
Kejriwal then slammed PM Modi and said, “For someone who is so corrupted, corruption is not an issue. So why are they behind the AAP?” The AAP supremo said that “no party has been targeted like this in 75 years as much as his party has been”.
“They arrested my number 2, my number 3. Now they’re coming for me,” said Kejriwal, referring to Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.
Answering a question about whether his arrest is likely, the Delhi CM said, “BJP has been holding press conferences since yesterday saying I will be arrested. Now if the BJP has given them the order, who is CBI to say no?”
ALSO READ | CBI summons Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in liquor policy case
CBI SUMMONS KEJRIWAL
The CBI’s summons on Sunday comes close to two months after Kejriwal’s former deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested in connection with the case on February 26. Sisodia was arrested after eight hours of questioning.
AAP has called the summons for Kejriwal a “conspiracy” and said the central government is exerting pressure after it got a national party status. AAP leader Atishi called the summons “BJP’s formula to eliminate its opponents”.
WHAT WILL CBI ASK KEJRIWAL?
Kejriwal will likely be questioned on the Enforcement Directorate’s charge that AAP used the money generated from the alleged scam for election campaigning in Goa, said a PTI report, citing agency sources. Other things that the AAP supremo might be questioned on include an “untraceable” file containing details of the expert committee and public comments when the policy was at a nascent stage of formulation, and his possible conversation with suspects in the case.
ALSO READ | Arvind Kejriwal gets CBI summons in Delhi liquor scam. Here’s why
According to the CBI, the expert committee formed under the then Excise Commissioner Ravi Dhawan had submitted its report suggesting changes in the policy on October 13, 2020. The recommendation was then put in the public domain in December that year.
The probe agency said when the report along with comments from the public was presented before a three-member GoM, it was not taken up for discussion. The file remains untraceable since then, it added.
Kejriwal knew about the process of policy formulation and the influence of the South lobby and also the changes in the draft stages, which made it necessary to question him, the sources told PTI.
ALSO WATCH | Arvind Kejriwal summoned by CBI in liquor policy case: Vendetta politics or fair probe?
KEJRIWAL AND DELHI LIQUOR POLICY
Kejriwal’s name was mentioned in the chargesheet filed by the ED where it said the Delhi CM talked to Sameer Mahendru, a liquor businessman and a prime accused in the case, over a video call and asked him to trust AAP’s communication in-charge Vijay Nair.
Nair is one of the accused in the case. As per the probe agency, Sameer Mahendru and Vijay Nair allegedly conspired with others in the Delhi liquor policy scam.
A week after the chargesheet was filed, the ED had questioned Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar. The probe agency reportedly questioned Bibhav Kumar about who spoke or visited the Delhi chief minister in connection to the liquor policy.
Bibhav, Sisodia and others are accused of using, destroying and changing 170 phones to receive kickbacks worth thousands of crores in the excise policy case.
ALSO READ | BJP’s formula to eliminate opponents, says AAP on Kejriwal’s CBI summons
SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS AHEAD OF QUESTIONING
The CBI is bracing for an elaborate security arrangement around its headquarters and hence kept the questioning day on Sunday, when offices in the vicinity remain closed. A similar strategy was adopted when Sisodia appeared at the agency headquarters where he was grilled for eight hours before being taken into custody.
(With input from PTI)
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Published On:
Apr 15, 2023
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