New Delhi: Ahead of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's questioning by the central agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting searches at premises linked to Delhi Cabinet Minister Raaj Kumar Anand and others in connection with a money laundering case.
Apart from the minister's residence in the Civil Lines area, ED raids are underway at nine premises linked to him since 7:30 am. The ED search teams are escorted by a team of the CRPF.
ED raids AAP MLA as per provisions of PMLA
According to news agency PTI, the probe against Anand is being undertaken as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). "The investigation stems from a charge sheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on charges of false declarations in imports for customs evasion of more than Rs 7 crore apart from international hawala transactions," as per PTI sources.
Following the local court's acknowledgement of the DRI prosecution complaint, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Anand and several others.
Anand, 57, is the minister for social welfare and SC/ST welfare among others in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government. He is an MLA from Patel Nagar. After the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, the education and health ministries were allocated to Labour Minister Raaj Kumar Anand. However, later on, the health portfolio was transferred to Saurabh Bharadwaj, and education was assigned to Atishi.
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said the central government wants to finish the Aam Aadmi Party by all possible means. He said that BJP will start singing that "law is taking its course and agencies are independent", but people are not fools. Why doesn't the ED raid BJP leaders and ministers?"
"The fault of Raaj Kumar Anand is that he is an AAP MLA and a minister from the party. Even during the British era, if you had to search someone's house, you needed a search warrant from the court. Even the British believed that if you give the right to Police or any agency to enter someone's house to search there will be an atmosphere of terror. Courts gave a search warrant but today ED needs no court warrant, ED officers decide whose house they have to raid. Raids are conducted on the premises of only Opposition leaders," he added.
ED summons Kejriwal
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor has been summoned for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the case. This comes six months after he was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to the matter.
The Delhi Chief Minister has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to the sources, the agency will record his statement once he appears before the investigating officer of the case in Delhi. However, the ruling AAP has refrained from speaking about whether the Chief Minister will appear before the ED or not.
Delhi excise policy scam
It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in its implementation. Following this, the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
Also Read: Kapil Mishra's Duryodhana jibe at Kejriwal ahead of Delhi CM's appearance before ED
