Delhi liquor policy case: Centre’s nod to ED to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia
New Delhi: The Centre has given the go-ahead to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute Aam Adami Party convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case, sources have said, adding that it has also okayed the agency’s prosecution push in the case against senior AAP leader and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.
The Union Home Ministry has granted permission to the ED to prosecute Kejriwal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged money laundering connected to the 2021-22 liquor scam case. The policy was later scrapped by the then-AAP government led by Kejriwal.
The move comes after the Supreme Court in November 2024, ruled that the ED also has to take prior sanction like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for prosecution under section 197 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (now section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) in money laundering cases. A special PMLA court in Delhi had paused framing of charges against Kejriwal after he moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court to take cognisance of the charge sheet in the absence of specific sanction for prosecution under PMLA.
Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena last month gave the nod to the agency to prosecute Kejriwal.
The CBI, which has filed a charge sheet under the Prevention of Corruption Act, got the requisite sanction in August 2024 in its parallel corruption case related to the excise policy.
The ED arrested Kejriwal, who is out on bail and named him in a charge sheet claiming that bribes were taken for favouring certain liquor traders for AAP’s Goa election campaign. The probe agency had said that Kejriwal was ultimately responsible for funds being used and generated as the national convenor and member of AAP’s national executive.
Sisodia, who was the Excise Minister when the policy was framed, was also arrested in the money laundering case.
Kejriwal and AAP have been accused of receiving bribes from the ‘South Group’, a cartel that controlled the sale and distribution of liquor in the national capital and allegedly benefitted from the excise policy framed by the Delhi government for 2021-22.
Both Kejriwal and Sisodia are currently out on bail. They have trashed the charges against them and have accused the BJP of using probe agencies to harass political rivals
The two leaders are now campaigning for the February 5 election in the national capital. Kejriwal has said he would be filing his nomination on Wednesday from the New Delhi constituency.