CBI raids Manish Sisodia: Hours after several teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation searched 21 locations, including the residence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the Congress party said that the “relentless misuse” of agencies against political rivals erodes their credibility.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the honest end up paying the price in such processes. “The flip side to relentless misuse of agencies against political rivals is that even legitimate, rightful actions of agencies come under a cloud of suspicion. In the process, the corrupt get away hiding behind the ‘misuse’ argument and the honest end up paying the price,” Khera said on Twitter.
Senior leader from the party Alka Lamba said that the Delhi Deputy CM should reach Delhi and cooperate with the investigation. “They kept on opposing the liquor policy during Shiela Dikshit’s time. But ultimately, they had to rollback their own liquor policy and go back to the one that was implemented by Sheila Dikshit.”
The raids at Sisodia’s house came less than a month after Delhi L-G Vinay Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, putting Sisodia, in-charge of the excise department, directly in the line of fire. Following this, the Delhi government had on July 30 announced it was withdrawing the new policy.
The LG’s recommendations had followed a report submitted by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on the matter. The report, which officials said was submitted on July 8, accuses Sisodia of providing undue benefits to liquor vend licencees in lieu of “kickbacks” and “commissions”, and the money being used in the recent Punjab elections.
The Delhi government had introduced the new policy to increase government revenue, improve consumer experience, reduce corruption and redistribute liquor shops in an equitable manner. Under the new policy, implemented in November last year, only private liquor shops were to run in the Capital.
