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After being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for over nine hours in connection with the excise policy scam case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stated that the liquor scam case against him is fake and a result of dirty politics. Kejriwal spoke to reporters after the questioning and thanked the CBI officials for their hospitality, saying that they asked questions in a friendly and harmonious manner.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener called the liquor scam case “fake” and a “result of dirty politics.”
Kejriwal accused the BJP-led government at the Centre for conspiring to tarnish AAP’s achievements and goodwill through the “fake case.” “They want to finish AAP because they cannot build schools, hospitals as AAP has done in Delhi, Punjab,” he said.
#WATCH | CBI questioning conducted for 9.5 hours. Entire alleged liquor scam is fake, AAP is ‘kattar imaandaar party’. They want to finish AAP but the country’s people are with us…: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal speaks after nine hours of CBI questioning in excise policy case pic.twitter.com/ODnCGKv7R3— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2023
“CBI asked around 56 questions regarding excise policy, I answered them all,” he said.
CBI’s Statement
The Central Bureau of Investigation in a statement said it launched an investigation into allegations of irregularities in the framing and implementation of the Excise Policy for the year 2021-22 and providing post-tender benefits to private individuals.
A charge-sheet was filed by the CBI on November 25, 2022, against the CEO of a Mumbai-based firm and six others, and further investigation is ongoing, it read.
The Delhi Chief Minister was issued a notice under Section 160 CrPC to provide answers regarding the case, and his statement was recorded under Section 161 CrPC during the investigation on April 16, 2023. The statement will be verified and compared with the available evidence. The investigation into this matter is ongoing, the agency said.
AAP’s Show of Strength
In a massive show of strength earlier in the day, Kejriwal visited Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Raj Ghat this morning and was accompanied by his Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and some cabinet colleagues to the CBI office.
Prior to his questioning, Kejriwal accused the agency of taking orders from the BJP. The Aam Aadmi Party chief, who received solidarity messages from several opposition leaders after being summoned by the agency, asserted that he would honestly answer questions posed by the CBI as he has nothing to hide.
“Since yesterday, all of their leaders are screaming at top of their voices that Kejriwal will be arrested and I think BJP has instructed CBI also that Kejriwal should be arrested. If BJP has given an order, then who is CBI? CBI is going to arrest me,” he said.
AAP Leaders Detained After Protests
As Kejriwal was being interrogated, the Delhi Police detained several senior AAP leaders who were participating in a sit-in at Archbishop Road in protest against his summoning. These included Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and Kailash Gahlot, AAP spokesperson Adil Ahmad Khan, AAP general secretary Pankaj Gupta, and some ministers in the Punjab government.
Chadha tweeted about the incident, questioning the arrest of peaceful protesters and accusing the BJP of having a “chronic Kejriwal-phobia.”
Although Mann joined the sit-in, he left the spot before the AAP leaders’ detention. According to AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai, around 1,500 people have been detained or arrested by police across Delhi for staging protests.
Later, Rai also chaired an “emergency meeting” of the party’s office-bearers to decide the next course of action following the detention of its leaders.
‘Untraceable Files’
The Delhi Chief Minister was summoned as a witness and is not an accused in the case, which led to the arrest of his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, by the CBI on February 26. Sisodia was later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month and is currently in judicial custody.
The CBI summoned Kejriwal to appear as a witness before the investigation team and answer their queries on the inputs generated during the probe, sources told PTI.
Sources said that during the questioning, the CBI was likely to inquire with the Chief Minister about the policy formulation process, particularly the “untraceable” file that was previously scheduled to be presented before the Council of Ministers.
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