NEW DELHI: Ahead of the assembly polls in the capital, lieutenant governor V K Saxena has given sanction to the Enforcement Directorate to prosecute AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case.
ED sought the LG’s nod to prosecute Kejriwal earlier this month after it allegedly found a “huge level of corruption in framing and implementation” of the excise policy, which was mentioned in prosecution complaint no. 7 filed in the Rouse Avenue court on May 17 this year. The court took cognisance of the complaint on July 9.
AAP said: “The so-called liquor scam investigation has dragged on for two years, harassing 500 people, filing 50,000 pages of documents, and conducting over 250 raids, not a single penny has been recovered. And multiple holes in the case have been highlighted by various court orders in the past years. BJP’s real goal was to crush AAP and Arvind Kejriwal by any means, it added.
ED’s prosecution complaint alleged that Kejriwal conspired with members of the “South Group” to receive kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore and passed on undue benefits to private entities by formulating and implementing a “tailor-made” liquor policy.
It added that stakes were ensured for the South Group in different liquor shops, and it was allowed to hold multiple retail zones against the objectives of the Excise Policy 2021-22.
ED also alleged in the prosecution complaint that about Rs 45 crore from the proceeds of crime were used in the Goa elections for AAP campaigning with the collusion and concurrence of Kejriwal. The investigating agency alleged that AAP was the “major bene ficiary” of the proceeds of crime, and Kejriwal, being the national convener and a member of the political affairs committee and national executive, was ultimately responsible for the utilisation of funds during the Goa elections.
“Arvind Kejriwal concealed this PoC (proceeds of crime) by using cash transfers/hawala transfers from the point of generation till the use. Hence, the accused Arvind Kejriwal is actually and knowingly involved in the different processes and activities connected with the offence of money laundering, that is, generation, acquisition, possession, concealment, transfer, use, and claiming it to be untainted as defined under Section 3 of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), 2002,” ED mentioned in the report.
On the basis of an internal report of then chief secretary Naresh Kumar, the LG in July 2022 recommended a CBI inquiry into alleged procedural lapses and violations of rules and acts in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Kejriwal was arrested in March this year on charges of money laundering. He was granted bail by Supreme Court in Sept.