Delhi Finance Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Saturday said that for the last two years, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been trying to find traces of money laundering in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, but “to no avail”.
“When the ED appeared before the Supreme Court, it was asked about the money trail, but the probe agency had no answers,” Ms. Atishi said.
‘No wrongdoing’
She added that despite no evidence of wrongdoing, the agency had arrested several AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, then Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, only on the basis of “doubt”.
Rubbishing her allegation, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that if there were no irregularities in the liquor policy, Ms. Atishi should explain why the Delhi government withdrew it as soon as the Central Bureau of Investigation ordered a probe into the matter.
Addressing a press conference, the Minister asked why the Central investigating agency had not issued a summons or made arrests to probe the “bribe” of ₹25 crore allegedly paid by Sarath Reddy — the director of Aurobindo Pharma and a key approver in the money laundering case — to the BJP.
She said that “solid evidence” of the money trail linked to the BJP had come out 16 days ago when the State Bank of India made public the details of electoral bonds on the apex court’s orders.
She asked why the ED, despite the proof, had not served a summons on BJP president J.P. Nadda in the matter.
“On March 21, we got evidence of the money trail. But in these 16 days, the ED has not taken action because that money trail is linked to the BJP,” she said.
TDP candidate
The Minister also flagged the example of Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Lok Sabha candidate, and questioned whether the ED was investigating why the TDP, a political ally of the BJP, had given him a ticket to contest the upcoming general election.
“Is the ED probing whether Magunta Reddy and his son, Raghav Reddy [another key approver in the case], have made any donations to the BJP? Has ED even begun investigating this matter?” she said.
Ms. Atishi also alleged that the ED had been “harassing” AAP leaders involved in the 2022 Goa Assembly election.
“The ED had claimed that the money extorted through this liquor policy ‘scam’ had been used for the party’s Goa election campaign two years ago. They have been calling candidates, workers, and everyone else who was involved in the election for interrogation,” she said.
‘Kickback money’
Mr. Sachdeva refuted the AAP Minister’s claims, and said that the liquor policy had been drafted with the special purpose of financing the Goa and Punjab State polls.
“To raise funds for the 2022 Goa and Punjab elections, the Kejriwal government drafted the liquor policy in connivance with liquor cartels, and raised the wholesale traders’ commission from 2% to 12%, ensuring kickbacks for the party,” he said.
“The kickback, in the form of cash, was then taken to the two States and spent there during the polls,” he added.
