Excise policy case: AAP, BJP trade barbs over ED chargesheet

BJP demanded that all AAP government ministers in Delhi be probed, and the AAP said the BJP should be probed for quid pro quo in donations received through electoral bonds

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday clashed over the supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the now-scrapped excise policy case.

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj. (HT Archive)

The BJP labelled the AAP as “the most corrupt party” saying this was the first instance of a political party being named an accused, to which the latter hit back, saying the electoral bonds data showed that the BJP took donations worth crores from the accused of the “so-called liquor scam”.

The BJP demanded that all AAP government ministers in Delhi be investigated. The AAP, meanwhile, hit back saying that the BJP be probed for quid pro quo in donations received through electoral bonds.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, in a press conference, said that AAP leaders were patting themselves on the back for becoming a national party in the shortest time “but the same party has now become the first party in Indian history to be a chargesheeted accused”.

“ED’s supplementary charge sheet has been filed. On July 12, the accused number 38 – the Aam Aadmi Party – will become the first such party in the country to hear such a call. While individuals are often charged in money laundering cases, the AAP as a whole is now facing such allegations,” Sachdeva said.

Sachdeva said that the charge sheet filed by ED also mentioned that Arvind Kejriwal had been repeatedly retracting his statements. “Regarding Vijay Nair, Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that he was not appointed by him but Kejriwal has not explained how Vijay Nair was living in a cabinet minister’s bungalow,” he said.

New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj said that the AAP always misled the public regarding the liquor scam. “Charge sheet has made it clear that Arvind Kejriwal is not only personally accused of taking crores of rupees in the liquor scam, but is also the kingpin. ₹45 crore of the ₹100 crore kickback was spent on the Goa election.”

Responding to the comments, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said it became public knowledge that the BJP took donations worth crores of rupees from the accused of liquor scam and the Central government should investigate the donations received by the party from the accused.

Addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj said: “Many companies that donated money to BJP are under investigation by one or the other agency. Due to these investigations, these companies donated crores of rupees to the BJP. The company of P Sarath Chandra Reddy, main accused in so-called liquor scam, also donated crores of rupees to BJP.After taking donations, BJP-led Central government made accused of scam witnesses. When will the Central government investigate donation of these crores of rupees to BJP?”

Bharadwaj alleged that in many instances, companies that were raided by central agencies later donated to the BJP via electoral bonds.

“The main witnesses of ED in the excise investigation also gave crores of rupees to the BJP. The main accused was P Sarath Chandra Reddy, son of the owner of Aurobindo Pharma. The excise policy was made in November 2021, and in January 2022, Aurobindo Pharma gave electoral bonds worth ₹3 crore to the BJP. In July, Aurobindo Pharma bought electoral bonds worth ₹1.5 crore and gave them to the BJP,” Bharadwaj said.

Bharadwaj added: “This excise policy was withdrawn in July 2022; P Sarath Chandra Reddy was arrested in November, and after his arrest, he bought bonds worth ₹5 crore for the BJP. He got bail on May 8, 2023, became an approver on June 2, 2023 and on November 8, 2023, his companies gave about ₹50 crore to the BJP.”