New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday deferred the questioning of Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged excise policy scam after the deputy chief minister sought time, citing the city government’s ongoing budget exercise.Expressing apprehension that he would be arrested, Sisodia said the central agency was acting on the instructions of BJP to take “revenge” on him after the court’s directions on the MCD mayoral polls.”CBI does everything on BJP’s instructions. The whole preparation was to arrest me and all the lies that BJP is spreading were for this purpose only,” he told a news channel. “On Friday, they were defeated in the Supreme Court. On Saturday evening, they gave me a notice to appear on Sunday. This is a BJP notice only. I knew that they would arrest me to take revenge,” he said. “If they want to arrest me, they can. But not at the cost of the people of Delhi by stopping the budget,” he added.CBI would now issue fresh summons to Sisodia with a new date to join the investigation, sources said.Earlier in the day, Sisodia said: “I had got a notice from CBI that it wants to question me regarding the excise policy. Because it is the last week of February, it is a very crucial time for me… Delhi’s annual budget preparation is in its last stage. I have requested for time till the end of February so that the budget can be finalised. After that, either at the end of February or later, whenever they deem fit, I will answer all their questions.”He added: “I have always cooperated with them and will continue to do so,” he said.In a statement, AAP said Sisodia’s residence was raided by CBI in August 2022, in an exercise that went on for almost a whole day. “Some weeks after the raid, CBI even searched his personal bank locker, calling it as a critical key in the case. In October, he was questioned by CBI at its headquarters for nine hours. Over the last few months, the agency also visited Sisodia’s village and office on multiple occasions. It has, however, found nothing against him so far,” the party said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/bjp-targets-delhi-deputy-cm-manish-sisodia-asks-why-he-is-evading-cbi/articleshow/98075150.cms
