Sisodia not named, proves case fake: Kejriwal; BJP hits out

The BJP’s West Delhi MP, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, said the investigation was still in the preliminary stages.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the absence of his deputy Manish Sisodia’s name from the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) in the excise policy case proves that the case was fake, even as leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought to play down this claim, arguing that more people could be named in subsequent charge sheets in the case.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia addresses a press conference at his residence in New Delhi on Friday. (HT Photo)

“The CBI’s chargesheet does not name Manish Sisodia. The whole case was fraudulent — 800 officers probed it for four months and could not find anything against him,” said Kejriwal in a tweet

“Manish Sisodia brought an education revolution to India, which gave crores of poor children of the country a hope of a bright future. It is extremely saddening that a conspiracy was hatched to malign such a leader by implicating him in a false case,” he added.

Sisodia, meanwhile, demanded Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena’s resignation and called for chief secretary Naresh Kumar “to be sacked”.

“The Delhi LG and chief secretary misused their position to benefit the BJP; LG should resign and CS must be sacked immediately,” Manish Sisodia said on Friday.

Without divulging details of the charge sheet, CBI said it registered a first information report (FIR) in the matter on August 17 to probe alleged irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of the Delhi government. It names seven people, including the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) communication strategist Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally (a businessman), Sameer Mahendru (managing director of Jor Bagh based liquor distributor Indospirit Group), Arun Ramchandra Pillai (Telangana based businessman and an associate of Boinpally), Mootha Gautam (managing director of India Ahead News) and two government employees, Kuldeep Singh (former deputy excise commissioner of Delhi) and Narendra Singh (former assistant excise commissioner).

Neither the LG nor the chief secretary responded to requests seeking comment.

The BJP’s West Delhi MP, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, said the investigation was still in the preliminary stages.

“AAP is trying to escape the blame by saying Sisodia’s name has not been included. However, the fact is that he still remains the prime accused in the case and the seven people named in the charge sheet are close aides of Sisodia. Furthermore, this is not the end, but the beginning and the investigation will keep digging to find more evidence and name more people in the charge sheet. Further, the charge sheet also signifies that there was a scam in the Delhi excise policy and the suspects have been identified.”