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ED files first charge sheet against Manish Sisodia, names him ‘main accused’
Sisodia was arrested by CBI on February 26 and later by ED on March 9 from Tihar Jail and he is currently in judicial custody.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed the first charge sheet against former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case and named him as the “main accused”, people familiar with the development said on Thursday. This is ED’s fifth charge sheet in the case.
Sisodia was arrested by CBI on February 26 and later by ED on March 9 from Tihar Jail and he is currently in judicial custody. So far 12 people have been arrested in the case.
CBI last month filed a corruption and criminal conspiracy charge sheet against Sisodia.
According to CBI, Sisodia misused his official position and dishonestly introduced changes to monopolize the wholesale and retail liquor trade in Delhi.
Also Read: Excise policy case: Delhi HC seeks ED’s response on Manish Sisodia’s bail plea
ED has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of “using” a part of the ₹ 100 crore kickbacks allegedly received from the ‘south group’ liquor lobby to meet its expenditure for the Goa Assembly poll campaign in 2022.
On Tuesday, in its supplementary charge sheet ED named AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in the money laundering case.
ED probe has revealed that the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 was brought in by the leadership of AAP, specifically by the then minister of excise, Sisodia, to continuously generate and channel illegal funds to themselves.
It has been alleged that the policy granting licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.
The policy, ED has said, promoted cartel formations through the back door, awarded exorbitant wholesale (12%) and huge retail profit margin of 185% and incentivised other illegal activities on account of criminal conspiracy by Manish Sisodia and other leaders of AAP to extract kickbacks from the liquor businesses.
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 a license fee 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 AAP alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
