Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, claimed on Saturday that he had known he would be summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since the day he spoke against corruption in the Delhi assembly. Kejriwal was speaking at a press conference in the national capital on Monday, a day after the CBI summoned him for questioning in the Delhi excise police case.
While talking to media persons, he said, “Central agencies are lying to courts against us in the liquor policy probe. Arrested people are being tortured, pressure is being created on them to nail us.”
He added, “The CBI has falsely accused Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case. People were beaten to obtain false statements. The agencies are torturing people for evidence. This was a great policy to eradicate corruption.”
On April 16, the CBI summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
AAP leaders have stated that Kejriwal will be questioned by the CBI.
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, a key aide to Kejriwal, is in jail for alleged excise policy irregularities.
The ED and CBI arrested Sisodia as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of Delhi’s excise policy.
The CBI apprehended Sisodia on February 26, 2023. After hours of questioning at Tihar Jail, the ED arrested him on March 9.
According to the ED and the CBI, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced, and the L-1 licence was extended without the approval of the competent authority.
According to the investigation agencies, the beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to avoid detection.
