Excise Policy Check: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to question Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is likely to appear before the probe agency on Sunday in connection with its probe into the excise policy matter amid apprehensions of his arrest.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday claimed that his sources have confirmed that his deputy Sisodia will be arrested by the CBI on Sunday. Addressing a private news channel conference, Kejriwal said that the CBI has called Sisodia for questioning and his sources are saying that he will be arrested on Sunday.
Will Sisodia be arrested?
Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio in the Delhi cabinet, was originally called last Sunday, but he sought to defer his questioning citing the budget exercise, following which the CBI asked him to appear on February 26. Where did you go?
Sisodia also expressed apprehension that the agencies may arrest him.
“They are using the CBI to take revenge and I am sure they will do so by getting me arrested,” he alleged.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader was questioned for a day on October 17 last year, almost a month before the central probe agency filed a charge sheet against seven people, including middlemen and liquor traders, listing Sisodia as an accused. He was not charged, but the agency kept an open investigation into his alleged role.
Nearly three months after filing the charge sheet, the CBI will question Sisodia on various aspects of excise policy, his alleged links with liquor traders and politicians and claims made by witnesses in their statements.
Armed with the confessional statements of Sisodia’s “close aide” Dinesh Arora, and information gleaned from interrogation of alleged members of the ‘South Lobby’, politicians and liquor barons who allegedly swung the policy in their favour, the CBI A detailed questionnaire has been prepared for the same, officials said.
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s policy of granting licenses to liquor traders favors some dealers who allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly denied by the AAP.
“It was further alleged that several irregularities were committed including amendment in excise policy, giving undue advantage to licensees, exemption/reduction in license fee, extension of L-1 license without approval etc.
A CBI spokesperson said, “It was also alleged that illegal gains on account of these acts were passed on to the concerned public servants by the private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts.”
Recently, the CBI arrested Buchibabu Gorantla, former chartered accountant of BRS MLC and Kavitha, daughter of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana.
It is alleged that Babu had met several of the accused named in the FIR in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai and was one of the key negotiators of the South lobby to get the now-expired excise policy for 2021-22 in its favour. wanted to do.
The CBI had also questioned Kavita in connection with the case in December last year.
During its investigation, the CBI had found evidence that Babu acted on behalf of the South lobby, which included Telangana MLC, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party MP Maguntha Sreenivasulu Reddy and Aurobindo Pharma’s P Sarath Chandra Reddy.
(with PTI inputs)
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