The CBI has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on Sunday in the Delhi excise case.
Kejriwal, who is the AAP national convenor, will make himself present before the CBI here, said party’s MP Sanjay Singh at a press conference on Friday evening. He is expected to reach CBI office at around 11 am on Sunday.
Kejriwal’s former deputy Manish Sisodia, who is an accused in the case, is already behind the bars since his arrest on February 26 for allegedly rigging the liquor policy to benefit private companies. Sisodia was minister for excise department and the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the case, has accused the AAP of accepting ₹100 crore from a South Group to fund its Goa elections.
Confirming the developments, the AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “I’d like to tell the PM - you and your Government are covered in corruption from head to toe and Arvind Kejriwal’s fight will not stop with this CBI summon”. He also stated that “The conspiracy hatched by you to arrest, jail and take action against Arvind Kejriwal on 16th April will not stifle his voice”.
Also read: Delhi excise scam resulted in ₹2,631-cr loss to public exchequer: ED
Kejriwal has not been named in the FIR by the CBI but will have to answer some questions from the investigators on the formulation and execution of now scrapped policy. As per the case made out, Kejriwal by virtue of being CM was aware of the drafting of the policy and the Cabinet headed by him had finally cleared it also. The CBI also charged policy resulted in Delhi loosing out on revenue which went to private liquor companies.
The Delhi CM’s personal assistant Biplav Kumar is also under the radar of investigating agencies and has been interrogated in February for changing his phone and destroying SIMs along with Manish Sisodia, which investigators suspect was done to hide the evidence.
The CBI has already filed a chargesheet in the case on 25 November, 2022, against seven accused, including two officials of the excise department.