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Hours before Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is set to appear before the CBI in connection with the liquor policy case, he Monday called the case against him “completely fake”, while Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the agency was going to arrest him to stop him from campaigning in Gujarat.
“Nothing was found in Manish’s house during the raid, nothing was found in the bank locker. The case against him is completely fake. He had to campaign in the Gujarat election campaign and they are arresting him to stop him. But the campaign will not stop. Every person in Gujarat is campaigning for AAP,” tweeted Kejriwal.
The police have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 outside Sisodia’s house. AAP supporters are likely to protest outside his house when he leaves for the CBI headquarters.
Sisodia, meanwhile, said he had been raided by the CBI but nothing had been found against him, and that the case against him was fake.
“They want to arrest me by registering a fake case against me. I had to go to Gujarat for election campaigning in the coming days. These people are losing in Gujarat badly. Their aim is to stop me from campaigning there. Whenever I went to Gujarat, I told people that we will build schools like Delhi for your children in Gujarat too,” Sisodia said in a series of tweets.
मेरे ख़िलाफ़ पूरी तरह से फ़र्ज़ी केस बनाकर इनकी तैयारी मुझे गिरफ़्तार करने की है. मुझे आने वाले दिनों में चुनाव प्रचार के लिए गुजरात जाना था। ये लोग गुजरात बुरी तरह से हार रहे हैं। इनका मक़सद मुझे गुजरात चुनाव प्रचार में जाने से रोकना है। 1/N
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) October 17, 2022
“People are very happy but these people do not want good schools to be built in Gujarat and for people to study and progress. But putting me in jail will not stop the election campaign in Gujarat. Today, every Gujarati has stood up. Now, even children will campaign in Gujarat for better schools, hospitals, jobs and electricity. The upcoming election is going to be a movement,” he added.
The CBI had raided Sisodia’s residence on August 19, almost a month after it registered an FIR in a case of alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Sisodia’s name was the first among 15 in the FIR. This included Excise department officials, AAP leaders, and businessmen.
Kejriwal, Sisodia, and AAP spokespersons have said in the past that CBI sources have told them that they have not been able to find anything against Sisodia. They said in September that Sisodia has been given a clean chit informally since he had not been arrested by the agency yet.
So far, three people have been arrested in the case—the AAP’s communication in-charge and the former CEO of entertainment and event management company Only Much Louder Vijay Nair, Indospirit Group Managing Director Sameer Mahendru, and Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally. Boinpally is not named as an accused in the FIR pertaining to the case, but his alleged associate Arun Ramchandra Pillai is.
The FIR was lodged on August 17 after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, putting Sisodia, the in-charge of the excise department, directly in the line of fire. The L-G’s recommendation was based on a report submitted to him by the Chief Secretary, which said that businessmen who got contracts to run liquor vends were given undue benefits and waivers by the state after the policy was implemented.
The FIR stated: “Praveen Kumar Rai, Director, MHA… has conveyed directions of the competent authority for enquiry into the matter of irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD of Delhi for the year 2021-22 by Central Bureau of Investigation… The OM is enclosed herewith, which discloses that Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM; Arava Gopi Krishna, then Commissioner (Excise); Anand Tiwari, then Deputy Commissioner (Excise); and Pankaj Bhatnagar, Assistant Commissioner (Excise) were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensee post tender.”
The FIR quotes “sources” to say that several private persons were involved in the framing of the policy as well as irregularity and that some people, “close associates of Manish Sisodia” were involved in giving “undue pecuniary advantage to public servants”.
The CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have conducted raids in multiple cities so far, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, in connection with the case.
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