What's liquor ‘scam’ case and why's Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested by ED?

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, March 22

Arvind Kejriwal--from leading the 'India Against Corruption' movement to becoming the chief minister of Delhi thrice in a row--was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday in the alleged excise policy ‘scam’.

The bureaucrat-turned-activist-turned-politician’s arrest comes at a time when his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a serious foray into electoral politics through a tie-up with its opposition INDIA bloc partner Congress for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat.

What is the case?

The excise policy ‘scam’ pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

The Enforcement Directorate had claimed that AAP leaders received kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore in the excise policy. The Delhi chief minister’s name has also been mentioned in the chargesheets filed by the ED. ED had alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the excise policy.

Two AAP leaders--Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh--are already in judicial custody in the case.

Kejriwal had skipped eight summons issued by the ED since November 2. He had called it "illegal and politically motivated".

ED has claimed that a south group comprising businessman Sarath Reddy, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and K Kavitha got nine zones out of 32 in Delhi under the new excise policy 2021-22. The policy was brought out with an extraordinarily high 12 per cent profit margin for wholesalers and almost 185 per cent profit margin for retailers.

As per the allegation, 6 per cent out of the 12 per cent margin was to be collected back from the wholesalers as a kickback to the leaders of AAP.

A total of 16 persons have been arrested in this case till now with the ED filing six chargesheets.

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#Aam Aadmi Party AAP #Arvind Kejriwal #Enforcement Directorate #Manish Sisodia