Most CBI Officers Were Against Sisodia’s Arrest, But Had To Obey Their Political Masters, Kejriwal Claims

Most CBI officers were against Manish Sisodia’s arrest, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal claimed, alleging that he was arrested due to "political pressure" put up by the agency's "political masters".

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday claimed that CBI officers were against arresting his deputy Manish Sisodia, but he was arrested due to "political pressure".

"I am told that most CBI officers were against Manish’s arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters," Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, in a veiled attack at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government.

The CBI on Sunday arrested Manish Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the now-scrapped excise policy relating to the sale of alcohol. His arrest comes after that of Satyendar Jain, Delhi's then-health minister, in June last year. 

Manish Sisodia was arrested after nearly eight hours of questioning on various aspects of the excise policy for 2021-22, which, as per the NIA, suffered from irregularities both in its formulation and implementation, allegedly intended to benefit people with links to the AAP.

"He gave evasive replies and did not cooperate in the investigation despite being confronted with evidence to the contrary. Therefore, he has been arrested," the CBI mentioned in a statement.

This was the second round of questioning of Sisodia after the agency registered a case on August 17 last year. He was quizzed on October 17 last year.

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, an accusation strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped.