NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday expressed shock over the reports that lieutenant government (LG) VK Saxena had given the Enforcement Directorate (ED) approval to prosecute party chief Arvind Kejriwal in a liquor policy case, with the rival BJP calling the former Delhi CM “kingpin” of the “scam”.
Fresh trouble mounted for AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday when LG Saxena gave his sanction to the ED to prosecute Kejriwal in a case that has trapped the party in a legal labyrinth for the past few years.
The central investigating agency sought Saxena’s nod to prosecute Kejriwal earlier this month after it allegedly found a “huge level of corruption in framing and implementation” of the excise policy, which was mentioned in prosecution complaint no. 7 filed in the Rouse Avenue court on May 17 this year.
The court took cognisance of the complaint on July 9.
Reacting to the development, Delhi health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj expressed shock over the reports and claimed there was no prosecution sanction issued in this regard.
“I am shocked…don’t they have the basic knowledge that prosecution sanction is required to prosecute a chief minister or a minister? They are saying that today they have given sanction to prosecute (Arvind Kejriwal), what was the BJP doing for the last two years? If they did not have permission to prosecute (Arvind Kejriwal), what were they doing? We have information that there is no prosecution sanction today also. This is part of a conspiracy being pushed for political reasons,” Bhardwaj told news agency ANI.
Another senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh called the reports on Kejriwal’s prosecution “fake” and asked LG Saxena to make the letter public.
“This fake news has been circulating since the morning. I don’t know what is the source of this information. If Delhi LG has given any sanction, then he should make it public. Where is that letter of the sanction? If the ED (Enforcement Directorate) has been given the nod to prosecute (Kejriwal), the LG should show the letter. It is important to have evidence before running such baseless news. Delhi LG has given no such letter,” Sanjay Singh, who is AAP Rajya Sabha MP, told ANI.
Meanwhile, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Virendra Sachdeva accused Kejriwal of being the “kingpin” of Delhi’s liquor scam and stated that the ex-CM would be punished for his alleged involvement in the excise policy case.
“It is clear that Arvind Kejriwal is the ‘kingpin’ of the Delhi Excise Policy scam and he has looted Delhi. We have been saying this since the first day that once you are out on bail, it is not evidence of your innocence. As the investigation progresses, Arvind Kejriwal is the culprit in this and will be punished,” Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva told ANI.
On Friday, the Delhi high court granted the ED additional time to file its reply to the petition filed by Kejriwal and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, challenging the trial court’s decision to take cognisance of the chargesheets in the Delhi excise liquor policy case.
The matter has been scheduled for hearing on February 5 by the bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri.
