Trouble could be mounting for Delhi Minister Atishi Marlena after Arvind Kejriwal reportedly named her in the Delhi Liquor policy scam. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for ED, quoted Kejriwal stating that the controversial middleman Vijay Nair reported to Atishi Marlena, not him.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s conduct has been totally non-cooperative and he has tried to mislead the interrogation. He said Vijay Nair does not report to me but to Atishi. Kejriwal is not sharing the password for his phone,” ASG Raju submitted in the court.
ASG: He said Vijay Nair does not report to me but to Atishi.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) April 1, 2024
Delhi Court remands Arvind Kejriwal to 15 days in judicial custody
Delhi Court has accepted the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) argument and sent Arvind Kejriwal to Judicial custody till the 15th of April in the Delhi Liquor Scam case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had asked for fifteen days of judicial custody of custody of Kejriwal, citing his ‘non-cooperative behaviour’. The CM was produced in Rouse Avenue Court as his custody ended on Monday. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on the 21st of March 2024 in connection with the liquor scam case.
When Kejriwal was produced in court, he indulged in the usual theatrics and said “Pradhan Mantri ji jo ye kar rahe Hain wo Desh ke liye acha nahi Hain.”
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on 21st March by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the now-defunct Delhi Liquor Policy. The trial court remanded Kejriwal to ED detention until 28th March.
Allegations against Vijay Nair and his association with the Aam Aadmi Party
In 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Vijay Nair, one of the accused in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022 case. Vijay Nair, a close aide of Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia, was one of the 15 people who were named in the FIR filed by the CBI in connection with the allegations of corruption against Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders in connection to the Delhi liquor scam.
The FIR filed by CBI in the liquor scam stated that Nair was “actively involved in irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD of Delhi for the year 2021-22.”
Vijay Nair was the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a Mumbai-based entertainment and event management company named Only Much Louder (OML). He worked as a ‘part-time volunteer’ of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in the run-up to the 2020 Delhi State Legislative Assembly polls. During his stint with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, he helped organise party events and manage social media handles.
AAP MLA Atishi Marlena told Caravan that Nair was an ‘ad-hoc worker’, a claim denied by the party’s national council member Ankit Lal. He pointed out that the ex-OML CEO has been associated with AAP for over 5-6 years. Lal stated that Nair is his go-to person for strategising digital campaigns.
A news report published in The Times of India shows that Vijay Nair has been with the Aam Aadmi Party since January 2014.’Even before being personally benefitted by the association, the ex-OML CEO had confessed to donating to the AAP. As such, it came as a surprise when Atishi Marlena introduced Vijay Nair as an ‘Adhoc worker’, who was not in a position of power.
