‘BJP Conspiracies’: CM Atishi Challenges Reports Of Delhi LG’s Nod To Prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, Makes This Demand

The Enforcement Directorate had sought permission for sanction of prosecution against Arvind Kejriwal from the Delhi LG on December 5.

The Aam Aadmi Party has rubbished reports that Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has sanctioned the Enforcement Directorate to prosecute party chief Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the alleged excise policy case. The AAP has called the reports "misleading" and "fake" and asked the the Delhi LG to make the sanction letter public if he has permitted the ED to do so.

The ED had sought permission for sanction of prosecution against Arvind Kejriwal from the Delhi LG on December 5. This development happened after months of investigation into the alleged matter, which is at the center of the allegations of corruption.

'BJP, Stop These Conspiracies': Atishi

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi reacted to the sanction news, saying that it was being circulated to distract people from other issues and demanding the copy of the approval be made public.

"If the LG has granted permission to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, then what’s the problem with the ED making the approval copy public? This news is being spread only to mislead people and divert attention from the real issues. BJP, stop these conspiracies. Bring out the truth," Atishi wrote in a post on X.

Manish Sisodia also called it an attempt to divert attention from the ongoing row over Amit Shah's remarks on BR Ambedkar and demanded that the ED provide a copy of the permission for prosecution.

"If the Lieutenant Governor has granted permission to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, why isn’t the ED showing a copy of it? This is clearly false and misleading news. Stop spreading such claims to distract from the insult to Baba Saheb," Sisodia said.

Calling the news about the sanction "fake", AAP MP Sanjay Singh claimed that the Delhi LG had given "no such letter". "If the Enforcement Directorate has been given a nod to prosecute the AAP national convenor, the LG should show the letter," Singh demanded.

"This fake news has been circulating since the morning. I don't know what is the source of this information. If Delhi LG has given any sanction then he should make it public. Where is that letter of the sanction? Delhi LG has given no such letter," he added.

BJP's Virendraa Sachdeva Calls Kejrwal 'Kingpin'

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva accused Kejriwal of welcoming the sanction to prosecute him. 

"It is clear that Arvind Kejriwal is the 'kingpin' of the Delhi Excise Policy scam and he has looted Delhi. We have been saying this since the first day that once you are out on bail, it is not evidence of your innocence. As the investigation progresses, Arvind Kejriwal is the culprit in this and will be punished," Sachdeva told ANI.

In a separate development, the Delhi High Court on Friday granted additional time to the probe agency to file its reply in response to the petitions filed by Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. The petition has challenged the court's decision to take cognizance of the chargesheets in the excise policy case. The matter has been listed for hearing on February 5 by a bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri.   

Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are currently out on bail after they were granted relief this year. They were held in connection with the cases filed by the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation over the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Kejriwal, who was the Delhi Chief Minister at the time, was arrested on March 21 and was granted bail in September.

He later resigned as the CM and vowed to return to the CM post only after the people of Delhi would re-elect him in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.