Delhi liquor policy: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (May 4) filed a fresh charge sheet against AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the liquor policy case. The federal probe agency named the AAP leader a "key conspirator" in this case.
Sisodia was arrested by the ED in this case on March 9 from Tihar Jail and he is currently in judicial custody. The 51-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader was first arrested by the CBI, which is also probing this case.
Fifth charge sheet by ED
This is the fourth supplementary and overall fifth charge sheet or prosecution complaint filed in the case by the ED before a designated special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi. The about 270 page charge sheet has annexures running into 2,000 pages.
The court listed the matter on Saturday for a hearing by special judge MK Nagpal. The supplementary charge sheet was filed after 4 pm at the filing counter. Thereafter the charge sheet was sent to Duty Judge. The Duty Judge listed the matter on Saturday before the court concerned for hearing. The supplementary charge sheet was filed by special public prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta.
Sisodia a "key conspirator"
The agency has called Sisodia a "key conspirator" in this case. It had alleged, in the previous charge sheets, that the liquor policy 'scam' was a "conspiracy" undertaken by some of the big political leaders of the AAP and the so-called 'South Group' comprising BRS leader K Kavitha, YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and others who "used" proxies and dummies to conceal their involvement.
"On one hand it is Manish Sisodia and other top leaders of AAP and Vijay Nair who was working under the overall guidance and sanction of Manish Sisodia," the agency claimed in an earlier filed charge sheet whose cognisance was taken by the court recently. "The scam initiated with the drafting of the excise policy of 2021-22 by the AAP leaders, specifically by Manish Sisodia with an objective of generating illegal funds followed by a nexus/understanding between key players of the South Group and Manish Sisodia and thereafter managed by Vijay Nair, who is a representative of AAP, payment of advance kickbacks from the former to the latter in exchange of undue favours," the ED said.
This was followed, it said, by usage of seemingly simple business entities for the ulterior motive of recouping and recovering the kickbacks (of Rs 100 crore allegedly paid by the South Group to the AAP) paid, it said. Another aspect, it claimed in the charge sheet, of the scam involved various entities involved in conspiracy to form cartels to increase their profits illegally and in violation of the principles/objectives of the excise policy 2021-22. It had alleged that this bribe fund was given by the 'South Group' to claim stake in the Delhi liquor market and the agency says this illegal money was used by the AAP to fund its 2022 Goa assembly polls campaign.
12 people arrested so far
The federal agency has arrested 12 people including Sisodia in this case till now, in which it has said, the probe is continuing.
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 had 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, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
Delhi HC notice to ED
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court issued notice to ED on Sisodia's bail petition in a money laundering case. The high court granted time to the ED to file a verification report within a week and listed the matter for further hearing on May 11. However, the ED’s counsel opposed the plea contending that Sisodia was the key conspirator in the case.
Meanwhile, the CBI also opposed a plea by former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia seeking interim bail in the Delhi excise policy case to take care of his ailing wife, claiming he suppressed the fact that she has already been discharged from hospital .However, Sisodia’s counsel claimed there was no suppression of facts and the mentioning document placed before the court for urgent listing disclosed his wife has been discharged from the hospital but she needs constant care.
Sisodia has moved regular and interim bail pleas both in the high court. He has moved interim bail on the basis of his wife's illness and seeks six weeks' bail in that.
(With agencies input)
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