As the Enforcement Directorate summoned two associates of arrested AAP MP Sanjay Singh, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal cited Supreme Court’s observation and said that the entire liquor scam is false. He further maintained a carefree stance when asked about Congress’ conditional support to the Aam Aadmi Party on the issue.
“Nahi karte toh na karein (if they don’t want to support, let them be),” said CM Kejriwal when asked about backing by the Congress, who is a part of I.N.D.I.A alliance along with Kejriwal’s AAP.
Is Congress Supporting AAP on Delhi Liquor Scam Case?
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Thursday said that law enforcement agencies were being used to settle political scores. But in the next two paragraphs of his post on X, Venugopal brought up the arrest of Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira last month in connection with a 2015 drugs case and that of party leader and former deputy chief minister OP Soni by the Punjab Vigilance Department in July.
The arrest of Khaira had led to a bitter clash between the two I.N.D.I.A allies. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had said the party will not tolerate injustice and those who are unjust “don’t survive for long”. A leader from the AAP’s state unit had said it would not form an alliance with a party that is “already so discredited” in Punjab.
Kejriwal’s Latest Statement on Delhi Liquor Policy Scam
CM Arvind Kejriwal spoke to the media after visiting Ghazipur landfill and said, “They (agencies) probed us so much, did anything come out? You heard the Supreme Court yesterday, the entire liquor scam is false. Not even a penny was exchanged. Judge kept asking for evidence but they had none. In a few days, the liquor scam would shut and they would come up with something else. All they want is to keep people tangled in agencies and investigations. They themselves will neither work nor let anyone else work.”
The Supreme Court on Thursday posed several critical questions to agencies investigating the liquor ‘scam’ case, raising doubts about the strength of their case.
“Have you seen them (Vijay Nair, Manish Sisodia on bribes) discussing this? Will it be admissible? Isn’t the statement (by an approver) hearsay? It is an inference but has to be based on evidence. In cross examination, this will fall flat in two minutes,” a report by India Today quoted the SC bench as saying.
The court made the observations while hearing former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas in a money laundering case and corruption case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam.
The Enforcement Directorate asserted that it is determined to bring any guilty parties to justice in the liquor policy case.
The ED on Wednesday arrested AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and accused him of receiving “crores of rupees” in kickbacks from accused-turned-approver Dinesh Arora.
Sanjay Singh’s Associates Summoned
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday summoned two associates of arrested AAP MP Sanjay Singh for questioning in the Delhi Excise policy linked money laundering case, officials said.
Sarvesh Mishra and Vivek Tyagi are expected to be confronted with the evidence seized by the agency during the investigation and it is understood that they will be confronted with Singh too.
The agency will record their statements under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Mishra is understood to have reached the ED office on Friday morning in response to the summons.
A Delhi court on Thursday sent Singh to five-day custody of the ED even as the anti-money laundering agency alleged that an accused businessman Dinesh Arora had given Rs two crore cash at the Rajya Sabha MP’s residence in two tranches.
Singh has strongly rebutted the claim.
ED’s Allegations Against Sanjay Singh
The AAP leader was arrested by the ED on Wednesday in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the 2021-22 Delhi Excise policy case and was the second high profile leader after Manish Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister, to be held in this case, in a big jolt to Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
