The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia on Thursday after his second round of questioning at the Tihar Jail in the capital in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy.
The ED arrest comes just a day before Sisodia’s bail hearing in a CBI court.
ED sources said Sisodia was arrested as they found evidence of money laundering against him. They also said he was “evasive” in his replies and was “not cooperating in the probe”.
As per the procedures, the jail superintendent was informed and an arrest memo was served under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following which Sisodia was arrested, sources told CNN-News18.
The federal probe agency had recorded the statement of the 51-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader for the first time on March 7 for about five hours.
What happens if Sisodia gets bail on Friday?
The ED is expected to obtain a production warrant from a special PMLA court and then produce Sisodia before it on Friday seeking his custody for interrogation. Even if Sisodia gets bail in the CBI case on Friday, the ED can seek his custody.
If the ED gets his custody, he will be taken to the agency’s headquarters in central Delhi for questioning and further recording of his statement and confrontation with other accused in the excise policy case.
The ED obtained a local court’s permission to question the politician, who till recently was the deputy CM of Delhi, in cell number 1 of the jail.
Sisodia is lodged in judicial custody after the CBI arrested him on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.
ED’s questionnaire
The Enforcement Directorate questioned Sisodia about the alleged change and destruction of cellphones that were in his possession and the policy decisions and the timeline followed by him as the excise minister of Delhi. These charges were made by it in its charge sheets filed before the court.
The ED agency is also believed to have asked Sisodia about the meetings of the GoM attended/chaired by him on the liquor policy issue and his interactions with other ministers on this panel and also Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The ED has informed the court through its charge sheet that its probe found that at least 36 accused, including Sisodia, “destroyed, used or changed” 170 phones to conceal evidence of “kickbacks” worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant 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 was later scrapped and the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe following which the ED booked a case against the same accused under the PMLA.
The CBI in its investigation had found that profit margins of liquor wholesalers were increased from five per cent to 12 per cent in the new excise policy on the insistence of the ‘South Lobby‘, a coterie of politicians and liquor businessmen who allegedly swung the policy in their favour. It is alleged that a group of ministers was of the view to cap profit margins to five per cent which was also the crux of the draft policy, a report by PTI said.
Reacting to Sisodia’s arrest by the ED, Kejriwal said all they want is to keep the AAP leader behind bars by invoking false cases.
मनीष को पहले CBI ने गिरफ़्तार किया। CBI को कोई सबूत नहीं मिला, रेड में कोई पैसा नहीं मिला। कल बेल पर सुनवाई है। कल मनीष छूट जाते। तो आज ED ने गिरफ़्तार कर लिया। इनका एक ही मक़सद है – मनीष को हर हालत में अंदर रखना। रोज़ नये फ़र्ज़ी मामले बनाकर। जनता देख रही है। जनता जवाब देगी— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 9, 2023
Sisodia’s open letter from jail
Meanwhile, Sisodia penned an open letter from custody alleging that the BJP’s problem with the politics of education was that it “builds nations, not leaders.”
“It is much easier to throw political opponents in jail than giving quality education to children. BJP’s real problem with politics of education is that it builds nations, not leaders.”
“Politics of education is not an easy task and definitely not a recipe for political success. Today, politics of jail might be winning under the rule of the BJP, but the future belongs to politics of education,” he wrote.
(With PTI inputs)
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