Sanjay Singh arrested in alleged Delhi liquor policy scam case; Kejriwal cries foul
Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was arrested on Wednesday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with corruption in the Delhi Excise policy scam, the second high-profile leader nabbed in this case. Early this morning, Enforcement Directorate officials swooped on his official residence in North Avenue and conducted searches. After day-long questioning, Singh was placed under arrest under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also an accused in the excise policy case, and has been arrested by the ED as well as the CBI. Singh is expected to be produced before a local court on Thursday where the ED will seek for his custodial interrogation. The developments led to a political slugfest between AAP and BJP with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal terming it as a desperate measure for the BJP as it stares at a defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP hit back at Kejriwal accusing him of being the “kingpin” of the alleged liquor policy scam and saying that “handcuffs” are not far away. The search and subsequent arrest of Singh comes a day after a Delhi court allowed Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha member Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, and Delhi-based businessman Dinesh Arora to turn approver in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.[1]
The ED had arrested Arora in July when he was already declared an approver in a related corruption case being probed by CBI. Arora was arrested after he allegedly gave evasive replies during his questioning by the ED and was not cooperating with the investigation. The businessman was a close associate of Sisodia. The agency, in a supplementary charge sheet, has accused Sisodia of receiving bribes from Amit Arora, another businessman and an accused in the case, through Dinesh Arora. The federal probe agency has described this bribe as “proceeds of crime” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
“Amit Arora paid Rs.2.2 crore to Manish Sisodia through Dinesh Arora for getting policy changes in his favour in the GoM report/ excise policy 2021-22… This amount is directly a bribe/ kickback to a government functionary and is proceeds of crime under section 2(1)(u) of PMLA, 2002. In this manner, Manish Sisodia participated in the generation of this proceeds of crime,” the ED said in its prosecution complaint filed in May. It was a rare instance of an accused-turned-approver (prosecution witness) in the CBI investigation getting arrested by the ED while the two federal agencies probed the same crime.
The ED and the CBI have alleged the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelization and favoured certain dealers who paid bribes for licenses. The excise policy was scrapped after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged corruption.
Reference:
[1] Delhi excise scam: Court allows two accused bribe givers to turn approver in money laundering case – Oct 03, 2023, PGurus.com
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