New Delhi, October 4 (Press ki Taquat)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought to know from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) why the political party (AAP), which is alleged to be a beneficiary of Delhi excise policy scam, has not been made an accused in the money laundering case.
The question was posed by a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna while hearing two separate bail pleas filed by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia in a corruption case and a money laundering case relating to the scam being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, respectively.
“As far as the PMLA case is concerned, your whole case is that it (kickback) went to the political party. It is the beneficiary and not him (Sisodia), but then you have to explain as to why the political party is still not an accused in the case. How do you explain this?” the Bench told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who will respond to the court’s query on Thursday on behalf of the ED.
The Delhi Government implemented the controversial policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. The probe agencies alleged that in collusion with others, Sisodia granted liquor licences to a group of leaders from the South in lieu of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore as the now-withdrawn excise policy of 2021-2022 was tweaked and profit margins changed to benefit these traders. The ED alleged that AAP used the kickback in the scam for its 2022 Goa Assembly election campaign. Lodged in jail for more than six months, Sisodia has failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court so far. He resigned from the Delhi Cabinet on February 28. Denying the allegations, Sisodia has asserted that he’s innocent.
