The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed its ninth chargesheet in the Delhi excise policy scam case sheet on Friday. The ED has named one Vinod Chauhan as its latest accused. Chauhan was arrested in May this year and is accused of playing a pivotal role in swindling money across other perpetrators involved in the scam. The Delhi 2021-22 liquor policy which has now been scrapped has been the central focus of the controversy and led to a probe by the CBI which was initiated by the Delhi Lieutenant Governor. The Investigation was reported to have subsequently joined by the ED.
The fresh prosecution complaint was submitted to the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi. Notably, the ED has implicated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as the key accused and ‘kingpin’ in the scam. According to the charge sheet, a staff member of K Kavitha revealed that he collected two heavy bags containing cash from accused Dinesh Arora’s office on Abhishek Boinpally’s directions and delivered them to Vinod Chauhan.
With the arrest of Vinod Chauhan, the total number arrests in the Delhi excise policy case has reportedly reached a count of 18. Besides these, the Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha, and several other liquor businessmen are some of the other prominent political faces who have been arrested in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.
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Previously, the Rouse Avenue court extended Chauhan’s judicial custody to July 3. He attended the court proceedings via video conferencing from Tihar Jail. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was sent to a three-day CBI custody, during which he was interrogated by the agency while lodged in Tihar Jail.
The recent reports revealed that a Delhi court granted Kejriwal certain privileges like prescribed medicines, home-cooked food and keeping a Geeta with him during his remand period. Additionally, the court has permitted Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal to visit him for 30 minutes everyday. His lawyer has also been permitted to meet for the same duration daily.
