Sisodia not alone: BJP targets Kejriwal, Punjab CM over Delhi excise policy scam

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

The excise scam does not stop at former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s doorstep but is linked to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann too, the BJP alleged on Sunday.

Citing a Delhi special court’s remarks while rejecting Sisodia’s bail plea, BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that they had exposed “degrees in corruption” of Kejriwal and Mann.

Probe being hampered

The court has observed that prima facie, a Rs 100-crore bribe has been taken by Sisodia. The liquor scam was not executed at an individual level, it was institutional. The probe is being hampered. —Shehzad Poonawalla, BJP’s national spokesperson

The BJP’s degree barb at the top Aam Aadmi Party leaders came amid Kejriwal’s relentless attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latter’s education qualification. It has been established that bribe has been paid, Poonawalla said, citing court’s comments.

What the court said was not its observations but findings, he claimed, noting it prima facie held Sisodia “architect” of the suspected scam.

Reading from the court’s order, which also include CBI’s assertions, Poonawalla said it was clear that the “setting and planning” for framing the controversial liquor policy, now junked, happened at the level of Kejriwal.

A liquor wholesaler was allegedly forced to surrender his licence by exerting pressure through the Punjab Excise Department as he had business interests in that state also, the BJP spokesperson alleged while taking aim at Mann.

“The scam does not stop at Sisodia’s doorstep but goes up to Kejriwal and Mann. It has exposed that Kejriwal and Mann have degrees in corruption,” he said.

“The court has observed that prima facie, a Rs 100-crore bribe has been taken by Sisodia. The liquor scam was not executed at an individual level, it was institutional. The probe is being hampered,” Poonawalla alleged.

Quoting court’s observation, the BJP spokesperson said, “The evidence collected so far clearly shows that the applicant (Sisodia), through co-accused Vijay Nair, was in contact with the South lobby and formulation of a favourable policy for them was being ensured at every cost. A cartel was permitted to be formed to achieve monopoly in the sale of certain liquor brands of favoured manufacturers and it was permitted to be done against very objectives of the policy.”

On Friday, a Delhi court, while dismissing the bail plea of Sisodia in the excise policy case lodged by the CBI, said prima facie the AAP leader "is the architect of the criminal conspiracy in the matter".

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