Ashish Ranjan
Delhi liquor scam: AAP politician and Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia tweeted on Saturday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had summoned him to their headquarters on Sunday in connection with the Delhi liquor scam. According to CBI sources, Manish Sisodia has been summoned for questioning tomorrow based on newly available information against him.
The summons relates to allegations of corruption in the creation and implementation of the national capital’s excise policy.
“Tomorrow, CBI has phoned me again. They have employed the entire force of the ED and CBI against me. The authorities had examined my home and bank vault, but nothing was uncovered against me. I have made arrangements for the youngsters of Delhi to have a quality education. They wish to impede me. I have always and will continue to cooperate with the investigation “Sisodia tweeted the following.
सीबीआई ने कल फिर बुलाया है. मेरे ख़िलाफ़ इन्होंने CBI, ED की पूरी ताक़त लगा रखी है, घर पर रेड, बैंक लॉकर तलाशी, कहीं मेरे ख़िलाफ़ कुछ नहीं मिला
मैंने दिल्ली के बच्चों के लिए अच्छी शिक्षा का इंतज़ाम किया है। ये उसे रोकना चाहते हैं।
मैंने जाँच में हमेशा सहयोग किया है और करूँगा.— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) February 18, 2023
In August of last year, the CBI filed a FIR against Sisodia and 14 others in a special court under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 477A (falsification of records), and section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which deals with taking undue advantage to influence a public servant by corrupt or illegal means or the exercise of personal influence.
The federal agency has charged that the Delhi government’s policy regarding the issuance of liquor licences favoured specific dealers who reportedly paid bribes for them. The AAP has vehemently denied this allegation.
PTI reported a CBI spokeswoman as saying, “It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, such as modifying the Excise Policy, offering undue favours to licensees, waiving or reducing licence fees, extending L-1 licences without approval, etc.”
The lieutenant governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena, suggested a CBI investigation into alleged anomalies in the creation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy, which was issued in November of last year. Following the recommendation of an investigation, the Delhi government was compelled to rescind its liquor policy and reinstate private market participants.
The FIR filed by the CBI against Manish Sisodia in the case alleges that he and other public workers implicated in the case made choices on the excise policy for 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with “the goal to offer undue favours to licensees post tender.”
At least two crores were allegedly paid to “close allies” of Sisodia by Sameer Mahendru, the owner of Indospirit, one of the liquor retailers involved in anomalies in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy, according to the FIR.
In its chargesheet, the Enforcement Directorate, which is conducting a parallel investigation into the financial irregularities in the case, alleged that a portion of the alleged Rs 100 crore “kickbacks” generated by the scrapped Delhi excise policy was used to fund the AAP’s assembly election campaign in Goa in 2022. In the second chargesheet in the case in which Manish Sisodia is a defendant, the ED made the allegations.
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In the FIRs submitted by the investigating authorities, Sisodia and other officers from the excise department are listed as suspects in the Delhi liquor scandal. In its supplementary chargesheet, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) investigation conducted to date revealed that the Delhi Excise Policy, 2021-22 was created by the AAP’s top leaders in order to generate and funnel illegal funds to themselves.
