'CBI Is Controlled By BJP,' Delhi CM Kejriwal Says As He Appears For Questioning In Excise Policy Case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday reaches the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters for questioning in connection with the formulation of the now-scraped excise policy.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appears before CBI

Source : Twitter

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters for questioning in connection with the formulation of the now-scraped excise policy on Sunday morning.

Kejriwal arrived at the heavily-barricaded CBI office after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accompanied him to the CBI office.

#WATCH | Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal reaches the CBI office for questioning in the liquor scam case. pic.twitter.com/POMRrXc0XB

— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2023

The Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which grants licences to liquor traders, is said to have favoured certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly denied by the AAP. The policy was later abandoned.

ANI reported that Aam Aadmi Party will stage a protest in the national capital during the questioning of party chief Kejriwal at the CBI office on Sunday.

Hours before he is to leave for questioning at the probe agency's headquarters, Delhi CM sent a video message to his supporters saying that the CBI will arrest him if "the BJP has asked it to".

"They (CBI) have called me today and I will definitely go. They are very powerful, they can send anyone to jail. If BJP has ordered CBI to arrest me, then CBI will obviously follow their instructions," CM Kejriwal remarked.

He also mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, "Mr. Prime Minister if Arvind Kejriwal is corrupt then there is no honest person in this world. Kejriwal lives for the country and will die for the country. If you have CBI summon me 100 times, I will still go. You can trouble us Indians but cannot stop India anymore. India will become the Number 1 country in the world."

The Delhi chief minister has been summoned as a witness but is not a defendant in the excise policy case in which his former deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26. Sisodia was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and is currently in judicial custody. 

The Delhi government has called a special session of the assembly on Monday and it is likely to discuss CBI's notice to Kejriwal. The second part of the Budget Session will commence in the Assembly Hall at 11 am on Monday, according to official notification.

"This incident is unprecedented. And this should be discussed in the assembly. We will have views of all MLAs who are representing various constituencies in Delhi and know their perspective about this issue in the upcoming session," AAP national spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said.