Kejriwal Again Declines To Appear For Questioning In Delhi Excise Policy Case

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ignored two previous summons on November 2 and on December 22, calling them “illegal and politically motivated”

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has declined to appear for questioning for a third time in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 while pledging cooperation in the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s probe into the matter, people aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

The investigators received Kejriwal’s reply on WhatsApp, maintaining the summons to him was illegal. Officials said the investigators will now discuss the reply with the agency’s brass and legal experts for the next steps to be taken in the matter.

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The agency has said that it wants to question Kejriwal on the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.

A ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) functionary said the intention is to arrest Kejriwal to stop him from the 2024 national election campaign. “Why has the notice been sent before the elections?”

Kejriwal ignored two previous summons on November 2 and on December 22, calling them “illegal and politically motivated”.

In his response to the earlier summons, Kejriwal wrote to the ED on December 22 calling himself a conscientious law-abiding ordinary citizen. “I do not shirk away from complying with any summons issued in compliance with law, but your summons is (I am advised) not in consonance with law. The fact that you have deliberately sought my appearance only in person without specifying any reason or necessity...when the said Act itself provides for appearance through authorised persons, is indicative of the motive to harass and embarrass me.”

The ED has alleged the AAP received kickbacks of ₹100 crore to finalise the excise policy and that a chunk of this was used in the Goa election campaign. The alleged kickbacks were received from the “South Group” and transferred to former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair with the help of accused Abhishek Boinpally and Dinesh Arora, the agency claimed. The ED has maintained AAP volunteers were paid in cash during the campaign.

The AAP has been seeking public feedback on whether Kejriwal should resign if he is arrested, or should he continue to run the government from jail. It has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring to implicate Kejriwal in the case to weaken AAP.

AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh remain in jail in the case in which the agency has arrested 14 people. The ED has approached a court seeking permission to investigate AAP as a beneficiary of the “proceeds of crime”.

The AAP has denied all charges and called the case a “witch-hunt” and “political vendetta” at the behest of the Union government.

BJP lawmaker Ramvir Singh Bidhuri asked Kejriwal to respect the law and participate in the investigation. “Kejriwal has always tried to portray that the law is trapping him and his colleagues in fake cases, which is not true. Kejriwal has received three notices from the ED, but he is ignoring these notices and refusing to participate in the investigation. He should participate in the investigation of the liquor scam while respecting the law.”

He added if Kejriwal thinks the case is fake, then he does not need to worry. “But the way he is trying to escape the law, it seems that there is something fishy. He is continuously doing things that are tarnishing his image in the public and raising questions about the credibility of the chief minister’s position.”

In one of its five charge sheets, ED claimed that the excise policy was Kejriwal’s “brainchild”. Kejriwal has also been mentioned in remand papers with references to alleged meetings, commissions for private players, and the entry of political players and businesspeople from the south into Delhi’s liquor business.

ED in its charge sheet filed in January last year claimed that Kejriwal told businessman Sameer Mahendru that Nair “is his boy” and that he should trust him.

The agency cited the December 2022 statement of Sisodia’s then secretary C Arvind and claimed he was informed of the decision for a 12% profit margin for wholesale private entities at Kejriwal’s residence in March 2021.

Arvind told ED that there were no discussions about handing the wholesale liquor business to private players in meetings of the group of ministers (GoM) which comprised Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and Kailash Gahlot before mid-March 2021.

An ED charge sheet said that in mid-March 2021 Arvind was called to Kejriwal’s residence, where former health minister Satyendar Jain was also present. It added Sisodia handed over to Arvind a draft GoM report there proposing the wholesale business should go to private entities. Arvind was asked to prepare the draft GoM report based on the document. “He said it was the first time that he saw this proposal as the same was never discussed in any GoM meetings.”

The excise policy was aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business and replace a sales-volume-based regime with a license fee for traders. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.

Lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s move to order a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime prompted the scrapping of the policy. The AAP has accused Saxena’s predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.

By Alok KN Mishra

Jan 03, 2024 10:36 AM IST