ED Questions Manish Sisodia For Second Time In Tihar In Connection With Delhi Excise Policy Case

The first round of questioning was held on March 7 and lasted for around 5 hours.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday began the second round of questioning of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia at the Tihar Jail in connection with its money-laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, reported news agency PTI.

The first round of questioning was held on March 7 and lasted for around 5 hours.

The federal probe agency obtained the permission of a local court to question the AAP leader. ED questioned him in cell number 1 of Tihar Jail, where he currently is lodged under judicial custody.

The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26 in connection with the alleged corruption done during the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.

In the second round of questioning, the agency is likely to question him regarding the charges which have been filed in the chargesheet before the court viz. alleged changes and destruction of mobile phones which were in his possession. The agency will also be questioning him about the policy decisions and the timeline followed by him as the excise minister of Delhi. 

Delhi Policy Excise Scam

The Delhi government has been alleged of allowing cartelization and favouring certain dealers who reportedly paid bribes for it through their excise policy for 2021–2022. AAP has strongly refuted these charges. The Policy was later discarded and the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe into the matter. ED booked a case against AAP leaders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The money laundering case stemmed from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in which Sisodia, among others, was listed as an accused. Following the filing of the complaint, the CBI raided the premises of the deputy chief minister and some Delhi government bureaucrats.

After Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena requested a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, the excise plan came under scrutiny. In addition, the LG suspended 11 excise officials.