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Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was called by CBI for questioning Sunday morning in connection with the alleged excise policy scam, sought a week’s time to appear before the agency citing his budget duties.
“Because it is the last week of February, it is a very crucial time for me as Delhi’s annual budget is being prepared. It is in the last stages. I have requested them for time till the end of February so that the budget is finalised. After that, either at the end of February or after that, whenever they seem fit, I will answer all their questions related to the excise policy and will make the matter clear,” Sisodia said Sunday.
“I have always cooperated with them and will continue to do so. This time, however, is crucial for the budget, each day is important, and a disturbance can affect budget preparations and this is why I have sought more time. I’m sure CBI officials will understand that being the Finance Minister, my role in finalising the budget is very crucial,” he added.
After he was summoned by CBI, Sisodia on Saturday said that “they have used the full power of CBI, ED raided my house, searched bank locker, but nothing was found against me”. “I have made arrangements for good education for the children of Delhi. They want to stop this. I have always cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so,” he had tweeted.
Later in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the allegations a “scam”. “There is no such thing as the excise scam. There was no scam. We made the best, the most transparent (liquor) policy of its kind in the country. The same policy has led to an increase of 48 per cent in revenue in Punjab,” Kejriwal said at a press conference.
When the CBI team visited Sisodia’s office in January, Sisodia had called it a “raid”, but the agency had denied such action and maintained that its team had visited the premises to collect some technical evidence related to the case. The CBI had said prior notice had been sent to Sisodia’s office. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had then asked the CBI to declare what, if anything, was recovered from Sisodia’s office.
Sisodia and 14 others have been named as accused in the alleged scam as part of which, among other irregularities, blacklisted entities were reportedly allowed to sell liquor in the city.
According to the FIR, this allegedly led to a loss of Rs 150 crore to the state exchequer. The FIR alleged Sisodia and other AAP leaders had received kickbacks, which were used to “influence” the Punjab Assembly elections. The AAP has denied the charges.
After Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the now-scrapped liquor policy in July 2022, action was taken against bureaucrats, including then excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and deputy excise commissioner Anand Kumar Tiwari, in addition to other government officials, alleged middlemen and liquor retailers.
On August 11 last year, Sisodia’s residence was among 21 locations across the country to be raided, in addition to those linked to Krishna and Tiwari, in connection with the case. Sisodiya was also questioned by CBI for around nine hours in October 2022 after the agency made two arrests in the case—Vijay Nair, AAP communication in-charge and former CEO of the entertainment agency Only Much Louder, and businessman Abhishek Boinpally.
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