CBI sleuths at Sisodia’s office in Delhi secretariat; He says ‘no wrongdoing’

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s scanner in the alleged excise scam case

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday evening said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided his office in the secretariat. He has been under the agency’s scanner in the alleged Delhi excise scam case.

Manish Sisodia. (File Photo)

“Today, the CBI has once again reached my office, They are welcome. They earlier raided my home, probed my office, investigated my lockers and even reached my village for investigation but they could not find anything against. They will not find anything as I have not carried out any wrongdoing. I have only worked honestly for the education of Delhi’s children,” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi even as his office was being checked by CBI around 4pm.

However, according to news agency PTI, officials of the agency , who were not named in the report, said that “no search or raid is taking place at the office of the deputy chief minister by the CBI”. They said the team may have gone to collect some records in the excise policy case or seek clarifications, the report said.

The agency had named Manish Sisodia as an accused in its first information report (FIR) in the excise scam case on August 17, 2022, however, his name did not figure in the chargesheet filed by the agency on November 25, 2022. While the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that it was a clean chit for the deputy CM, the agency issued a statement clarifying that the “investigation against him and others into the alleged cartelisation of the liquor trade in Delhi is continuing.”

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume based regime with a license fee one 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. The plan, however, came to an abrupt end, with Delhi’s lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. This 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.