The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy scam case.
Prior to his arrest, the central agency questioned him for hours today. The CBI called him on Sunday in connection with alleged irregularities and corruption in the formulation and implementation of the national capital's new excise policy.
A CBI source told ABP News, Manish Sisodia was arrested for failing to answer questions about the allegations against him and for not cooperating with the investigating agency during the questioning process.
According to the source, Sisodia would be presented in court tomorrow after the lunch break.
Earlier, the CBI had recorded the statement of a bureaucrat (164 statement) who has named the Delhi deputy chief minister in the case, the sources familiar with the matter told ABP News.
According to the sources, instructions were given to the bureaucrat before the excise policy was presented before the group of ministers (GoM).
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that his deputy Manish Sisodia would be arrested on Sunday. Kejriwal stated during the second edition of the ABP Network 'Ideas of India' Summit that Sisodia was framed in a "false" case and that nothing was discovered during searches of his home and bank lockers.
"Manish Sisodia has been called on Sunday for questioning by CBI. As per our sources, he will be arrested that day. The CBI raided his residence and searched his bank lockers, but nothing was found. Sisodia offered hope of a good future to crores of poor children in the country through a revolution in education. A conspiracy has been hatched to defame such a person by implicating him in a false case," Kejriwal said.
Many senior AAP politicians and their close associates have faced the heat of the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI since the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) most ambitious Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, which was cancelled on July 31, 2022.
Following the repeal of the new policy, the Delhi government opted to reinstate the "old excise regime" that existed prior to November 17, 2020. Following Delhi L-G VK Saxena ordered CBI probe into alleged rule violations and procedural weaknesses in the execution of the excise policy, the ED and CBI conducted multiple searches across the country, including the deputy CM's home, who has also been identified as an accused by the CBI.
The AAP and the BJP have been at odds about the alleged scam.
On February 19, the CBI summoned Sisodia for questioning. The AAP leader had asked for a week to prepare the Delhi Budget. The CBI granted his plea.
The BJP claimed that the Delhi government reverted to the old liquor-selling regime to cover up corruption in Sisodia's excise department. The CBI has listed seven accused in the liquor policy case chargesheet, which does not name Sisodia.
The AAP claimed the decision to send the CBI after Sisodia was influenced by the BJP at the centre. The liquor policy case quickly rose to the top of the long list of squabbles between the AAP and the Lieutenant Governor, and, by extension, the centre.
(With Inputs From Agencies)