CM Kejriwal ensured there was no meaningful discussion on excise policy, says ED

It was also the central probe agency’s case that Chanpreet Singh (another co-accused), who had handled Rs 45-crore worth of proceeds of crime, had paid for a hotel where Kejriwal was staying in Goa — from the bribe money.

The ED held that the CM had both a direct role and a vicarious role — as the national convener of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — which was an association of individuals, as per Section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Calling Kejriwal the “kingpin and key conspirator” of the ‘scam’, the ED also alleged that another co-accused Vinod Chauhan had a close connection with the CM. “…there were direct messages from Vinod Chauhan to different hawala operators,” the ED added.

The ED earlier — for the first time — had named the AAP and Kejriwal as the accused in its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the Rouse Avenue Court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who is likely to take cognisance of the chargesheet on June 4.

The ED on March 21 arrested Kejriwal, who was recently granted interim bail until June 1 by the Supreme Court. The CM has been mentioned as an accused in an ED prosecution complaint; this is also the first time that a political party has been mentioned as an accused by the ED in a case.

The central probe agency had earlier said that Kejriwal was “directly involved in the formulation” of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, which was drafted “considering the favours to be granted to the ‘South Group’ — a group of individuals from the southern part of India — which the ED claims “secured uninhibited access, undue favours, attained stakes in established wholesale businesses, and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy)”, and paid Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in return. The agency also alleged that bribes received from the ‘South Group’ were funnelled into the AAP’s Goa Assembly poll campaign in 2021-2022.