Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has skipped Enforcement Directorate’s summons for the 3rd time. ED plans to question the AAP supremo in the Delhi liquor scam, however, the Delhi CM has been evading the authorities. Sometimes, Kejriwal used the excuse of assembly elections, sometimes of Vipassana, and now of upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and Republic Day. While making time for all these things, Arvind Kejriwal has failed to make time for ED questioning.
Even though Kejriwal doesn’t have the time for ED, he obviously has time for the media. On Thursday, January 4, Arvind Kejriwal issued a statement saying, “”The truth is that there was no corruption. BJP wants to arrest me. My biggest asset is my honesty & they want to dent it. My lawyers have told me that summons sent to me are illegal.”
Arvind Kejriwal further said, “BJP’s aim is not to probe me, but not to let me campaign for Lok Sabha elections. They want to call me on the pretext of investigation and then arrest me.”
Notably, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has 1 Lok Sabha MP and he says BJP is pulling out all the stops to stop this 1 MP party from campaigning for Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Interestingly, while Kejriwal says there is no proof of corruption, his comrades, former Deputy CM of Delhi, Manish Sisodia (who was only removed from his post once arrested), and AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, have been languishing in jail for months under the same scam.
Despite several pleas for bail, neither Sisodia, nor Sanjay Singh have been entertained by any court. If there is no proof of corruption, maybe Kejriwal can go and explain that to the courts who are refusing to grant bail to his fellow AAP leaders, unless Kejriwal thinks BJP even runs the courts, which I doubt will go down well with the judiciary.
Notably, while denying bail to Manish Sisodia in October, the Supreme Court noted that a money trail of Rs 338 crore has been tentatively established in the case. Even though money trail has been established by Supreme Court, Arvind Kejriwal keeps on insisting that there in no corruption as he avoids investigation authorities.
Delhi Excise Policy
The liquor policy for 2021-22 was put into effect by the Delhi administration on 17th November 2021, however, it was cancelled at the end of September 2022 due to accusations of corruption. According to the agencies, the new regulation led to monopolisation and gave economic advantages to people who weren’t eligible for liquor licenses.
Interestingly, Kejriwal government scrapped the policy the moment an investigation started into the policy and its implementation.