Delhi Liquor Policy Case: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed a chargesheet against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and also named his Aam Aadmi Party as an accused in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.
The prosecution complaint was filed before the special court and sought to charge the accused under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency arrested Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, 55, from his official residence on March 21. He is currently out of jail on interim bail.
Overall, this is the eighth chargesheet filed by the ED in the case, in which it has arrested 18 people so far. Last week, the agency had filed a similar complaint against K Kavitha, daughter of BRS leader and former Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, and four others.
The CM was earlier called the kingpin and main conspirator of the Delhi excise duty scam by the ED. He is alleged to have worked in collusion with Delhi government ministers, AAP leaders and others.
“We have direct evidence that Kejriwal stayed at a seven-star hotel, the bill of which was partly paid by one of the accused in the case,” Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the Supreme Court on Thursday.
He alleged that Kejriwal, as the national convener of AAP, was indirectly responsible for the alleged scam.
The excise case relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy. After this, the ED registered a case under PMLA.
The ED, taking cognizance of the CBI FIR filed on August 17, 2022, registered a money laundering case on August 22, 2022 to probe alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
