Bihar MP Manoj Tiwari by sharing his response to Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped liquor policy, BJP said that there are chances of Arvind Kejriwal to face the same.
"I can clearly foresee that in future, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would meet the same fate as jailed ministers Sisodia and Satyendar Jain. You can cheat a human being, but you can't cheat God. The way Delhi's treasury has been looted, I don't think any criminal or corrupt person will be able to escape," Manoj Tiwari said.
Subsequently, after the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sisodia in the liquor policy case, after hours of questioning at Tihar Jail.
The ED began questioning the senior AAP leader and one of the party's founding members, days after it recorded his statement.
The ED also made another arrest in the case earlier, as it took Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai in the custody.
The ED requested the presence of Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha for questioning in the liquor policy case.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier in its ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court sent him to Judicial Custody till March 20.
Last year, the ED filed its first charge sheet in the case. The agency said till now it has undertaken nearly 200 search operations in this case after an FIR was filed.
The CBI inquiry was recommended on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary's report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010, officials had said.
In October, the ED had raided nearly three dozen locations in Delhi and Punjab following the arrest of Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Delhi's Jor Bagh-based liquor distributor Indospirit Group, in the case and arrested him later.
The ED and the CBI had made claims that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy. They also alleged that undue favors were extended to license holders. It was further said that the license fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 license was extended without the competent authority's approval. The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.
Moreover, it was reported that a decision has been taken by the excise department to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules. It was further claimed that although there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered license fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to Covid-19.
The agency claime it caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer.
