Delhi liquor scam: CBI arrests Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as AAP cries foul

The officials of the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch grilled the minister on various aspects of the excise policy, his alleged links with Dinesh Arora and other accused mentioned in the FIR, and details of message exchanges from multiple phones among others, they said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief alleged “dirty politics” behind Sisodia’s arrest.

In a tweet, Kejriwal claimed that Sisodia was innocent, that people were angry with his arrest, they understood everything, and that they would give a fitting answer to this move.

मनीष बेक़सूर हैं। उनकी गिरफ़्तारी गंदी राजनीति है। मनीष की गिरफ़्तारी से लोगों में बहुत रोष है। लोग सब देख रहे हैं। लोगों को सब समझ आ रहा है। लोग इसका जवाब देंगे।

इस से हमारे हौसले और बढ़ेंगे। हमारा संघर्ष और मज़बूत होगा।

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 26, 2023

Sisodia did not cooperate: CBI

The CBI investigators were not satisfied with Sisodia’s responses. It was claimed that he was not cooperating in the investigation and avoiding clarifications sought by officials on crucial points, leading to his arrest, they said.

The probe agency officials said it was felt that custodial interrogation was necessary to put Sisodia through intense questioning, they said.

Before leaving for the CBI office earlier in the day, Sisodia expressed apprehension that he might be arrested.

He went to Raj Ghat with his supporters before reaching the CBI headquarters, which was turned into an impregnable fortress by Delhi Police, who raised four layers of barricades on the JLN Stadium Road since 1 am, officials said.

They said the media personnel and everyday passers-by were stopped at the SCOPE Complex gate, around 500 metres from the CBI headquarters, to prevent any protests or breakdown of law and order.

Related: ED raids 6 locations in Hyderabad linked to businessman Arun Pillai

‘Family is by my side’

Talking to reporters and his supporters from his official vehicle, a white-coloured electric car, Sisodia expressed apprehensions about his arrest.

“When I left my job as a journalist, my wife supported me. Even today, my family is standing by my side. My workers will take care of my family if I get arrested,” he said.

The AAP leader, the accused number one in the CBI FIR, was first questioned on 17 October last year, a month before the probe agency filed its charge sheet in the case on 25 November.

According to officials, the CBI did not name Sisodia in the charge sheet as it kept the probe open against him and other suspects and accused.

He was booked under IPC Sections 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) and 477A (falsification of accounts) of the IPC, and provisions of the Prevention Of Corruption Act, including Section 7 (taking undue advantage to influence a public servant by corrupt or illegal means or by the exercise of personal influence).

Related: No Sisodia in charge sheet, Delhi CM Kejriwal slams ‘fake’ case

K Kavitha and the ‘South Group’

On 22 and 23 February, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Butchibabu Gorantla, the former Chartered Accountant of BRS MLC K Kavitha, to understand the involvement of her and the “South Group” — comprising YSRCP MP Mangunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son, Magunta Raghava, who is custody; and Kavitha’s alleged representatives, the Hyderabad businessmen Arun Ramachandran Pillai and Abhishek Boinapally — in the Delhi liquor scam case.

Butchibabu Gorantla was among the various persons and different stakeholders — including the approver Dinesh Arora, AAP media coordinator Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, and Arjun Pandey — who reportedly attended meetings held in May and June 2021 in Gauri Apartments, near Claridges Hotel in Delhi, and at Hotel ITC Kohenur in Hyderabad.

Butchibabu is currently in Tihar jail in New Delhi after being arrested by the CBI on 8 February for his alleged role in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy and thereby causing wrongful gain to Hyderabad-based wholesale and retail licensees and their beneficial owners.

On Thursday, 16 February, a court in New Delhi rejected the bail petitions of five persons arrested by the ED in connection with the Delhi liquor scam.

The ED arrested Sameer Mahendru on 28 September, 2022, while Sarath Chandra Reddy and Benoy Babu were held on 10 November, 2022, and Vijay Nair and Abhishek Boinpally on 13 November, 2022.

Related: ED provides more details of South Group role in Delhi liquor scam

Facts of the case

An FIR — No RC0032022A0053 — dated 17 August, 2022, was registered by the CBI Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in New Delhi against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others under Section 120B read with Section 477A of Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988 for irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) for the year 2021-22.

The FIR was registered on the directions of competent authority conveyed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Director Praveen Kumar Rai — vide OM (Office Memorandum) No.14035/06/2022-Delhi-l dated 22/07/22 — for enquiry into the matter of irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy.

Praveen Kumar Rai also forwarded the DO (Demi Official) letter no. SLG/Conf./2022/75 dated 20/07/2022 of Delhi Lt-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena alleging irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy.

The OM said Manish Sisodia, Arva Gopi Krishna, the then Commissioner (Excise) of GNCTD Anand Tiwari, and GNCTD Assistant Commissioner (Excise) Pankaj Bhatnagar were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to the now-scrapped excise policy without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensees post tender.

The ED is probing the case based on the FIR issued by the CBI.

(With PTI inputs)