CBI summons Manish Sisodia in Delhi excise case

In August 2022, the agency had registered a case against Sisodia and 14 others to probe the allegation of irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the since scrapped excise policy

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for questioning on Sunday in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, an agency source said.

The development took a political turn, with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal stating that the case was only a political conspiracy, while the BJP is questioning why the policy was withdrawn if there was no scam.

“There was no liquor scam. It was the best policy in the country. The same policy was implemented in Punjab and the revenue increased by 48%. In Delhi, due to political vendetta, the case was made as a political conspiracy. Manish ji will go tomorrow and we will cooperate completely. In the end, truth will win,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri alleged that the contractors whose commission had increased from 2% to 12% under the policy have told the CBI that they were forced to give 6% commission back as donation to the AAP.

Before the Delhi excise policy kicked in on November 17, 2021, both private and government liquor vends were selling alcohol in the city. However, under the new policy, the government completely pulled out of the business of selling liquor and it was left to private entities.

In August 2022, the CBI had registered a case against Mr. Sisodia and 14 others to probe the allegation of irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the since scrapped excise policy. It later arrested some key accused and filed a chargesheet against seven persons, including two Excise Department officials, in November 2022.

Mr. Sisodia and his senior party colleagues have denied the charges in the past even as the BJP tried to paint the AAP as corrupt.

Based on the CBI case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting a money laundering probe and has so far arrested nine accused persons. It recently filed a second chargesheet against 17 accused.

The agencies have alleged that the then communication in-charge of the AAP, Vijay Nair, on behalf of the party leaders received ₹100 crore as kickback in advance from a group whose prominent persons were YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, P. Sarath Chandra Reddy, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K. Kavitha.

For the recovery of the alleged payments, the group’s partners were given 65% stakes in businessman Sameer Mahandru’s enterprise, Indo Spirits. The group controlled the stakes through “false representation, concealment of true ownership and proxies”, the agencies said.

It has been alleged that the excise policy was created by the top leaders of the AAP to continuously generate and channel illegal funds to themselves. The policy allegedly promoted cartel formations and awarded exorbitant wholesale profit margin of 12% and retail profit margin of 185%.

The “kickback” money was to be returned in the form of stakes in Indo Spirit and extra “credit notes” to the retail zones managed by Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally from Brindco. As alleged, the wholesale distribution of Pernod Ricard and Diageo was to go to Indo Spirits and Brindco, respectively. Following recovery of the advance payment, the 6% “kickbacks” received from wholesalers was to be shared in half between Mr. Nair and Mr. Boinpally.

The ED has also alleged that a part of the “kickback” was used for the AAP poll campaign ahead of the Goa Assembly election in 2022. The cash payments amounting to ₹70 lakh were made to volunteers who were part of survey teams. The fund transfers were managed through “hawala” channels, according to the chargesheet.