Prohibitory orders were clamped around his home under section 144 crPC and a score of Aap workers assembling there were arrested to prevent any mob descend there. There was also a raid at the residence of then Delhi excise commissioner.
The Kejriwal government scrapped the excise policy last month end after the new Delhi Lieut. Governor faulted it and allowed the licensees to run the liquor shops only for a month till August end while releasing the licences only to the government agencies to run the shops from September 1.
There is, however, no word on the official CBI website on the raids in Delhi. The last news on its website is about its searches in a case related to alleged frauds in coins of Rs 11 crore.
Aap leaders alleged that the BJP-led Centre sent the CBI to raid Sisodia’s residence here just after the New York Times published a positive story on August 18 on front page about the Delhi model of education. Sisodia is also Delhi’s education and excise minister.
Just on the day of the CBI raids on Sisodia’s home, an undeterred Kejriwal announced a “missed call” campaign urging people to join his “national mission.”
“to join our national mission to make India Number 1, please give missed call on 9510001000, let’s take India on the top,” the Delhi Chief Minister said in a video address.
AAP national spokesman Sanjay Singh, MP, termed the CBI action against Sisodia “petty thinking of Prime Minister Modi, while Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal assured all cooperation to the probe agency and asserted that it will not find anything incriminating against his deputy.”
AAP’s Raghav Chaddha said the CBI had found nothing in the past raids and would find nothing “but pencils and geometry boxes” at his home. “They raided Arvind Kejriwal, found four mufflers. And all they will find in Manish Sisodia’s home are pencils, notebooks and geometry boxes,” Chaddha said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar said the party had in June written to then Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on a “multi-crore scam” in the illegal distribution of liquor licences to the shell companies and it staged several protests demanding resignation of Sisodia over the alleged violation of rules and procedural lapses.
The CBI started leaking information on its raids in the evening, claiming that it had seized confidential official files of documents relating to the new excise policy from the residence of a “public servant,” asserting that they were not supposed to be kept at his residence. It, however, did not disclose who was this public servant, but sources said it could be former Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna who was in league with Sisodia in the deal.
Its searches were authorised by Lt Governor V K Saxena on the basis of an inquiry report finding “irregularities” in the new excise policy. It secured sanction from Saxena under Section 17A before filing the FIR against four government servants — Sisodia, two IAS officers and one DANICS (Delhi state cadre) officer.
FIR NAMES 15: Fifteen persons, including Sisodia, are listed in the FIR on the alleged excise scam. The raids were conducted not only in Delhi but also across seven states and Union Territory.
The liquor policy came under the scanner after Lt Governor Saxena recommended a CBI probe and suspended 11 excise officials in the matter. Sisodia too sought a CBI probe.
The CBI inquiry was recommended based on the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009 and Delhi Excise Rules-2010, officials said.
PLACE IN JAIL: Meanwhile, BJP MP Gautam Gambhir attacked the AAP asking why did it take back the liquor policy if it were so clean. Why did it backtrack? Because Kejriwal knew they were going to get exposed, he said. “When you have looted crores and crores of the taxpayers’ money and made a liquor policy sitting with the liquor mafia, your place is not outside but in jail.”
