The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in connection with the excise policy case. Rajya Sabha MP and former Congress leader Kapil Sibal has called the summons “politically motivated”. Several AAP workers have been detained by Delhi Police at Kashmiri Gate after staging a protest in the national capital over the CBI summons to party chief Mr Kejriwal. Kejriwal has claimed that he knew he would be next in line to be summoned by the CBI since the day he spoke against corruption in the Delhi assembly. His former deputy, Manish Sisodia, is already in jail over alleged irregularities in the excise case. Manish Sisodia, who was the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi in the Aam Aadmi Party government, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February 2023 in connection with the alleged irregularities in the excise policy case. He was arrested after hours of questioning at Tihar Jail.
The CBI and ED had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favors were extended to license holders, and the license fee was waived or reduced. They further alleged that the beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their account books to evade detection.It seems that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have alleged that there were irregularities committed during the modification of the excise policy in Delhi. They have further claimed that undue favors were extended to license holders, and there were cases where the license fee was waived or reduced. Additionally, they have also claimed that the L-1 license was extended without approval from the competent authority. It is important to note that these are allegations made by the ED and CBI, and it is up to the courts to determine the veracity of these claims.