Delhi Excise Policy: ED Registers Money Laundering Case To Probe 'Irregularities'

Delhi Excise Policy 21-22: ED denied registering a money laundering case against Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday registered a case to probe alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise policy that allegedly involve Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others, official sources said Tuesday as reported by news agency PTI. A case has been filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the probe agency after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR that has named Sisodia and 14 others.

Sisodia is among 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy.

However, ED denied registering a money laundering case against Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case, reported news agency ANI. Earlier ANI reported that ED Additional Director Sonia Narang had confirmed the opening up of a money laundering case against Sisodia.

On Sunday, a Look Out Notice was issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation against eight accused in connection with the alleged violations in the implementation of liquor policy in Delhi which was introduced earlier this year but was later rolled back.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on August 19 carried out the raids on the official residence of Manish Sisodia in Delhi as well as in seven states, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and raided and searched 31 places in Bangalore. It also included the whereabouts of the Delhi government's IAS officer and former Delhi Excise Commissioner R Gopi Krishna.

Earlier on Monday, Manish Sisodia claimed that he was approached by the BJP with the offer to close all cases against him if he joined their party. Asserting that all the allegations against him were false, Sisodia said he will never bow down before "conspirators and corrupt people". "I have received a message from the BJP -- Leave AAP and join BJP. We will ensure that all cases by CBI and ED against you are shut. "My reply to BJP -- I am a descendant of Maharana Pratap and a Rajput. I am ready to get beheaded but can never bow down before conspirators and corrupt people. All the cases against me are false. Do whatever you want to do," he said in a tweet in Hindi.