Highlights
- The agency has denied saying the case remains under investigation.
- ED official 30 premises in Delhi, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Karnataka searched.
- There was no immediate reaction from the ED to the AAP's claim.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has given a "clean chit" to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case, the AAP claimed on Tuesday, saying the probe agency would otherwise have raided the senior leader's house as he is named the key accused. On Monday, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), too, had given a clean chit to Sisodia. The agency, however, categorically denied it saying the case remains under investigation and it has not absolved anyone of the charges.
The AAP's claim comes after the ED conducted searches across Delhi and five states as part of its money laundering investigation into the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy. ED officials said around 30 premises in Delhi, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are being searched and individuals named in the case are being raided. But these do not include the premises linked to Sisodia or any other government servant.
"It is a matter of happiness for the Aam Aadmi Party that the ED also has given a clean chit to Sisodia today after the CBI did so…," the party's chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said at a press conference. "The ED carried out raids at various locations but did not come to Manish Sisodia's residence despite him being the accused number-1. They (ED officials) developed cold feet. They left him because they felt that going to his house would be humiliating," he added.
There was no immediate reaction from the ED to the AAP's claim. The Delhi government has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misusing the central probe agencies to frame Sisodia in "fake cases" and stop Kejriwal and his government from "contributing to education and health". "If it was the prime minister's fight against corruption as he says, the ED would have been carrying out raids against liquor mafia in Gujarat today," Bharadwaj alleged. "It's not the fight against corruption but against Kejriwal. This entire effort is to stop Kejriwal's work in education and health," he added.
Also read: Delhi BJP leaders start signature campaign for removal of Manish Sisodia
Also read: CBI rejects Sisodia claim that its officer killed self under pressure to 'frame' him in excise case
