Excise policy case: Delhi minister Kailash appears before ED
Gahlot (49), an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Najafgarh, is the minister for transport, home and law in the Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
PTI
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Delhi minister and AAP leader Kailash Gahlot
New Delhi, 30 March
Delhi minister and AAP leader
Kailash Gahlot appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday for
questioning in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the
now-scrapped excise policy for the capital, officials said.
Gahlot (49), an Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) MLA from Najafgarh, is the minister for transport, home and law in the
Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been arrested
in the case by the federal agency. The minister was seen entering the ED office
in central Delhi around 11:30 am.
Sources said Gahlot has been asked
to appear for questioning in the case and getting his statement recorded under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He is expected to be questioned
with regard to the formulation of the policy as he was part of the Group of
Ministers (GoM), along with former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and
former urban development minister Satyendar Jain, on the preparation and
implementation of the new liquor scheme for 2021-22.
The ED has alleged that the excise
policy was leaked to the "South Group" liquor lobby that included
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha. This group is alleged to have
given Rs 100-crore kickbacks to the AAP and its leaders, according to the
agency.
The ED has also alleged in its
chargesheet that Gahlot handled a single SIM number but his IMEI (international
mobile equipment identity) was changed thrice. The agency has mentioned
Gahlot's name in its chargesheet and in the context of Vijay Nair, the AAP
communications in-charge arrested earlier in the case, saying Nair lived in the
government bungalow allotted to Gahlot, who "ironically" lives in
Najafgarh in southwest Delhi.
Describing this practice of
allowing the use of a government residence to someone else by a public servant
as a "criminal breach of trust", the ED had said it had asked the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take action in the matter.
The excise case pertains to alleged
corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi
government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. Delhi
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged
irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy.
Subsequently, the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
AAP leaders Sisodia and Sanjay
Singh were arrested by the ED in the case earlier and they are in judicial
custody. The AAP and its leaders have repeatedly denied the charges of
wrongdoing, with Kejriwal alleging that the case was built by the BJP-led Centre
to create a "smokescreen" that the AAP is a corrupt party.
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