The CBI has arrested Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia after after nearly eight hours of questioning in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, agency sources said on February 26.
Officials said his answers during questioning in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped liquor policy for 2021-22 were not found satisfactory.
Mr. Sisodia arrived at the CBI headquarters at 11.12 a.m. for the second round of questioning, they said.
The officials of the Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI grilled the Minister on various aspects of the Excise policy, his alleged link with Dinesh Arora and other accused in the FIR, and details of message exchanges from multiple phones among others, they said.
The CBI investigators were not satisfied with the responses provided by Mr. Sisodia and alleged that he was not cooperating in the investigation and avoiding clarifications on crucial points sought by them resulting in his arrest, they said.
Before leaving for the CBI office, Mr. Sisodia had expressed apprehension that he may be arrested.
AAP reaction
Reacting to the development the AAP said the BJP had targeted Mr. Sisodia, and got him arrested by the CBI “in a false case”. The party termed the arrest “a conspiracy to stop Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s revolution”.
“Manish Sisodia is the future Education Minister of India, BJP is arresting him in fear of his rise,” the party said in a statement.
AAP leaders, workers detained
Soon after the CBI began questioning Mr. Sisodia , Delhi Police detained as many as 50 workers and leaders of the ruling Aam Admi Party (AAP).
Mr. Sisodia arrived at the heavily-barricaded CBI office after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat, officials said.
Ahead of his questioning, the Deputy Chief Minister told reporters that he was not afraid of going to jail.
““I can go to jail a number of times and I am not afraid. When I left my job as a journalist, my wife supported me and even today, my family is standing by my side. My workers will take care of my family if I get arrested,” he said.
“I am going to CBI again today, I will cooperate fully in all investigations. The love of lakhs of children and the blessings of millions of countrymen are with me. I don’t care if I have to be in jail for a few months. I’m a follower of Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh went to the gallows for the country. To go to jail over such false accusations is a small thing,” the senior AAP leader said in a tweet in Hindi.
Mr. Sisodia, accused number one in the CBI FIR, was earlier questioned on October 17, a month before the agency filed its charge sheet on November 25 last year.
The CBI had not named Mr. Sisodia in the charge sheet as the central probe agency kept the probe open against him and other suspects and accused, they said.
The agency will question Mr. Sisodia on various aspects of the excise policy, his alleged links with liquor traders, and politicians and claims made by witnesses in their statements.
Protesting AAP leaders detained outside CBI office
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders protesting near the CBI headquarters against Mr. Sisodia being called for questioning have been detained by Delhi Police, according to the party. At least 50 AAP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have been detained while protesting near the CBI headquarters, a senior police officer confirmed.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh shows a placard after being detained during a protest against the CBI’s questioning of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case, in New Delhi on February 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
The detainees also include Delhi Government Minister Gopal Rai, three MLAs and one former MLA, the officer added. Total 42 men and eight women protestors have been detained.
“Modiji’s hooliganism is at its peak. I can’t walk without a help, but police surrounded my car from all sides and forcefully made my help get off the car. Policemen entered my car and are taking me alone. Hooliganism has reached its limits, but neither will we be afraid nor will we bow down,” senior AAP leader and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said Mr. Sisodia is being “targeted” as “BJP knows that AAP has become a national party and the country’s future is AAP”.
“Manish Sisodia is being targeted because the BJP knows that AAP has become a national party and the country’s future is AAP and AAP is their only opponent… They want Congress to remain the Opposition and want to confine Kejriwal and AAP to Delhi. That is why CBI and ED are behind us,” AAP leader Jasmine Shah said while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters. “There were so many big scams in UPA 1 and 2. Why is there no CBI, ED raid on their leaders?” he asked.
Armed with confessional statements of Mr. Sisodia’s “close associate” Dinesh Arora, and information gleaned from questioning of alleged members of ‘South Lobby’, a coterie of politicians and liquor businessmen who allegedly swung the policy in their favour, the CBI has prepared an elaborate questionnaire for Mr. Sisodia, the officials said.
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s policy to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.
“It was further alleged that irregularities were committed including modifications in Excise Policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, the extension of L-1 license without approval etc.
“It was also alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts,” a CBI spokesperson had said.
Sisodia, who also holds the Finance portfolio in the Delhi Cabinet, was originally summoned last Sunday but he sought deferment of his questioning citing the ongoing Budget exercise, following which, the CBI had asked him to appear on February 26.
Recently, the CBI arrested Butchibabu Gorantla, a former Chartered Accountant of K. Kavitha, a BRS MLC in Telangana and a daughter of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
It is alleged that Mr. Babu had met several accused named in the FIR in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai and was one of the prime negotiators from the South Lobby, which wanted to swing the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22 in its favour.
The CBI had also questioned Ms. Kavitha in connection with the case in December last year.
During its probe, the CBI had found evidence that Babu acted on behalf of the South Lobby comprising the Telangana MLC, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, and Aurobindo Pharma’s P Sarat Chandra Reddy.
(With inputs from PTI)
