Delhi Liquor Policy Case: ED Files Chargesheet Against Arvind Kejriwal, AAP In Money Laundering Matter

Delhi Liquor Policy Case: The Enforcement Directorate has named both Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party as accused in the supplementary charge sheet filed in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam.

File Photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Source : PTI

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a chargesheet against both Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The ED has submitted a supplementary chargesheet in the alleged liquor scam involving the Aam Aadmi Party. This comes as the Supreme Court reserved order on a plea of CM Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the Delhi excise policy case  

The chargesheet, filed in Rouse Avenue Court, names both the Chief Minister and his party as accused. Presenting the case for the ED, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju told the bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, "We are proposing to file a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party."

ED Claims Finding Chat Records 'Linking' Delhi CM Kejriwal To Hawala Operators

During the hearing, the ED informed the Supreme Court that it had uncovered chat records purportedly linking Kejriwal to hawala operators in relation to proceeds of crime from the excise policy case. The investigative agency asserted that chats were recovered from the devices of Hawala operators after Kejriwal allegedly refused to provide passwords to his phone and other devices.

The Solicitor General stated, "They destroyed their phones. We obtained this chat from the hawala operators."

Meanwhile, according to news agency PTI, the apex court gave Arvind Kejriwal the liberty to move a trial court for regular bail in the money laundering case related to the excise policy case.

The Supreme Court has granted Kejriwal interim bail until June 1 in the Delhi liquor policy case. However, during this period, he is prohibited from visiting the Chief Minister's office and the Delhi Secretariat. The court has directed Kejriwal to surrender on June 2.

The ED had previously contended that AAP, as a political entity, falls under the definition of an association or body of individual citizens of India, as per the Representation of the People Act. Consequently, it can be classified as a company under section 70 of the PMLA.

"As Arvind Kejriwal was in-charge of and responsible for the said company i.e. AAP during the time of the offence, he and his party shall be deemed guilty of offences mentioned under the anti-money laundering law and liable to be prosecuted and punished," stated the ED.

The excise case revolves around alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, subsequently scrapped. Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had advocated for a CBI probe into the purported irregularities, leading to the ED registering a case under the PMLA.The ED initiated its money laundering probe on August 22, 2022, following the CBI FIR lodged on August 17, 2022, which was taken cognisance of.