CBI files fifth, ‘final’ charge sheet against CM Kejriwal

CBI files final charge sheet against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in corruption probe related to capital's 2021-22 liquor policy, involving 23 individuals.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday filed a charge sheet against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in its corruption probe in the capital’s 2021-22 liquor policy since its inquiry into the irregularities was concluded.

The CBI took custody of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on June 26. (AFP)

The fifth and final charge sheet by the central investigating agency also named Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Rajinder Nagar, Durgesh Pathak (who was the in-charge for the Goa assembly elections in 2022 when kickbacks were allegedly received by the party), businessman P Sarath Reddy, who is an approver in the Enforcement Directorate’s parallel probe and has been granted pardon, and three others that include Vinod Chauhan (alleged hawala operator said to be close to Kejriwal) and businessmen Amit Arora and Ashish Mathur.

In the latest charge sheet, the CBI has charged 23 individuals, including former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha (Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, criminal conspiracy and cheating.

The ED concluded its Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) probe in the case last month after filing eight charge sheets against 40 accused.

Kejriwal has been termed as “one of the conspirators” in the CBI charge sheet, people familiar with the development said. “We have filed our final charge sheet in the excise policy case. The probe is now over. We will now push for an early trial,” an officer said, asking not to be named.

“Arvind Kejriwal is one of the main conspirators of the criminal conspiracy in the commission of offences herein (referring to the liquor policy). It has been revealed that Vijay Nair (former media in-charge of the AAP), a close associate of Kejriwal, was contacting various liquor manufacturers and traders and demanding undue gratification since March 2021, for incorporation of provisions favourable to them in the upcoming Delhi excise policy 2021-22,” the CBI said last month while seeking Kejriwal’s remand.

Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, member of Parliament from Ongole, met Kejriwal on March 16, 2021, in his office in Delhi secretariat and requested him to provide support in liquor business in Delhi, the charge sheet said. Kejriwal assured him support and asked him to contact Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha in this regard as she was working with Kejriwal’s team.

“Kejriwal also told Reddy to provide monetary funding to the AAP. The said fact duly finds corroboration from the contemporaneous documentary material on record,” the agency said.

The CBI took custody of Kejriwal on June 26.

In its fourth charge sheet against Kavitha, the CBI said the 2021-22 excise policy of Delhi was “prepared with preconceived idea and same was tweaked in order to cause undue benefit to the accused persons of South Group, including Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Pillai, Butchibabu Gorantla and Mootha Gautam, in lieu of upfront payment of ₹90-100 crore to Vijay Nair, a close associate of Manish Sisodia.”

It alleged that out of ₹100 crore in kickbacks, ₹44.45 crore was transferred to Goa between June 2021 to January 2022 through “hawala channels” for the election campaign of the AAP. Hawala is an informal fund transfer system.

The CBI has further claimed the new policy was formulated on May 20 and 21, 2021, and the council of ministers in the Delhi government “processed and approved” it through circulation on May 21, 2021, in a hurried manner despite it being the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was ED that arrested Kejriwal first in the case on March 21.

The financial crimes probe agency named the Delhi chief minister and the AAP as accused under the PMLA in a charge sheet on May 17. ED said that Kejriwal was not only the brain behind the AAP who controlled its major activities, but he was also one of the founding members and was also involved in the decision making of the policy as was evident from the statements of the witnesses.

Allegations against Durgesh Pathak include cash payments from the alleged kickbacks that were made to people engaged in AAP’s Goa groundwork managed by him and Vijay Nair.

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalize the city’s flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume based regime with license fees for traders, and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. The policy also introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor, a first for Delhi.

The plan, however, came to an abrupt end, with Delhi’s lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. This ultimately resulted in the policy being scrapped prematurely and being replaced by the 2020-21 regime, with the AAP alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.