Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday as part of its investigation into the capital’s now-scrapped liquor sales policy.
The ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are investigating alleged irregularities in Delhi’s excise policy with connivance and kickbacks from the liquor lobby. Under it, the licence fee was waived or reduced, and undue favours were extended to liquor licence holders, the agencies have claimed.
Mr Kejriwal’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has been named as an accused and questioned in the case along with other officials. The agencies have also arrested several businessmen and brokers, accusing them of being part of the scandal.
In one of its more recent claims, the ED said one of the arrested suspects – Aam Aadmi Party communications in-charge Vijay Nair — had arranged a FaceTime video call from his phone between Sameer Mahendru, chief of Indospirits and Mr Kejriwal.
On behalf of AAP leaders, Vijay Nair received ₹ 100 crore from a lobby dubbed the “South Group” as advance for licenses in Delhi liquor policy, the agency has alleged in its latest chargesheet, which has not named Mr Kejriwal as an accused.
AAP sources claimed that there is no truth in the allegations of the Enforcement Directorate and that Sameer Mahendru has told a court that his statement was obtained under duress.
Accusing the agency of acting at the instance of the BJP, which heads the government at the centre, Mr Kejriwal has rubbished the charges as “complete fiction”. “The Enforcement Directorate must have filed 5,000 cases… The ED is meant to topple governments and buy and sell MLAs,” he said.