New Delhi (India), April 25, 2023: Former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, has been named as an accused in a chargesheet filed in the Delhi liquor policy case. The supplementary chargesheet filed today also names Butchi Babu, former auditor of Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, Arjun Pandey, and Amandeep Dhal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has kept further investigation open on the role of other accused in the case, according to sources.
Last week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned as a witness in the case for nearly nine hours by the CBI. BRS leader Kavitha, who is also the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, has also been questioned in the case.
Denying any wrongdoing, Sisodia told a court in his bail application that the Central Agency has no evidence against him. The Aam Aadmi Party leader was arrested on February 26, more than six months after a First Information Report was registered in the case after the issue was flagged by Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
The case revolves around corruption allegations linked to the Delhi government’s liquor policy of 2021, which was later scrapped. The CBI alleges that liquor companies were involved in framing the policy, which would have led to a 12 percent profit for liquor firms. The agency has alleged that a liquor lobby paid kickbacks for it.
The Enforcement Directorate has also launched an investigation, alleging the laundering of the kickbacks. After the policy was scrapped, the BJP said the Delhi government went back to the old liquor policy to cover up the corruption.
