The Central Bureau of Investigation has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to question him in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy scam case. According to the news agency ANI, the AAP convenor has been asked to appear before the CBI on 16 April, Sunday.
Senior AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has already been arrested in connection with the case. The AAP govt is accused of changing its excise policy to benefit select business houses.
The liquor policy was first proposed in September 2020 but came into effect in November 2021. It changed the manner in which alcohol was being sold in the National Capital, introducing private players in the market and marking the exit of government-owned liquor vendors.
While the objective of Excise Policy 2021-2022 was to end black marketing and the liquor mafia, the Delhi government soon came under fire over allegations of corruption. Chief Secretary of Delhi, Naresh Kumar, found irregularities and procedural lapses in the new liquor policy. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI probe on the recommendation of Naresh Kumar.
It was found that Manish Sisodia had waived off ₹144.36 crores on the license fee, to be paid by the private liquor vendors, under the garb of the Coronavirus pandemic. He had also waived import pass fee of ₹50 per beer case, causing loss of Delhi govt and benefiting liquor licensees.
Moreover, the changes to the Excise Policy were made without the final approval of the Lieutenant Governor and thus considered illegal under the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010 and Transaction of Business Rules of 1993.
The new excise policy was withdrawn by Delhi govt in July 2022. Following that, CBI booked Manish Sisodia, and several others in an FIR for irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022.