Order on ED charges against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on July 9

ED, in its charge sheet naming Kejriwal, relied on chats between the Delhi CM and hawala operators regarding alleged proceeds of crime in the excise policy case

A Delhi court will on Tuesday pronounce its order taking cognizance of two supplementary charge sheets, including the one naming Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering probe related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI)

Special judge Kaveri Baweja, while listing the matter for pronouncement of order on July 9, said it will pronounce orders on taking cognizance of the seventh supplementary charge sheet, naming Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as accused, as well as the eighth supplementary charge sheet naming two other accused – Vinod Chauhan and Ashish Mathur – in the case.

ED, in its charge sheet naming Kejriwal, had relied on chats between the Delhi CM and hawala operators regarding alleged proceeds of crime in the excise policy case. The chats were allegedly recovered from the devices of hawala operators after Kejriwal refused to share the password of his devices.

Close on the heels of naming Kejriwal, the agency named Vinod Chauhan who was alleged to have facilitated transfer of ₹25.5 crores from Delhi to Goa during the Goa assembly elections of 2022 and arranged meetings of high court judges with Kejriwal.

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According to ED, the angadiyas who were involved in hawala transaction for transferring an amount of ₹25.5 crore to Goa had confirmed to the agency that the money was received from one Ashish Mathur and Tara Singh. Further investigations by ED revealed that both Mathur and Singh were associates of Vinod Chauhan. Mathur, the other person to be charge-sheeted with Chauhan, has not been arrested so far.

Chauhan’s call detail record (CDR) revealed that he was in touch with Ashok Kaushik, the former private secretary of Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader K Kavitha, linked to the South Group. Ashok Kaushik in his statement recorded with the ED admitted that between June 2021 and August 2021, he collected cash-filled bags from businessman-turned-approver Dinesh Arora’s office upon the direction of another accused Abhishek Boinpally and had them delivered to Vinod Chauhan.

The federal agency has also alleged that Chauhan was aware of the fact that the money amounting to ₹25.5 crore was related to the Delhi liquor excise policy scam as he was in deep nexus with the key conspirators of the alleged scam.

During the search conducted by ED at various locations, an amount of ₹1.06 crore was seized from Chauhan’s residence. ED claimed that he knew the amount of ₹1.06 crore was from the South Group and was holding it for AAP leaders. It was further submitted that Chauhan is primarily involved in hawala transfers and cash movements and acted as middleman for bureaucrats and politicians.

The money laundering case stems from the investigation initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy. The policy, which aimed to overhaul Delhi’s liquor business, was scrapped following allegations of irregularities and replaced by the previous regime. Kejriwal, 55, was arrested by ED on March 21 after the Delhi high court denied his request for interim protection from arrest.