Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, sources in the Delhi government said Friday. Confirming this, CBI sources said he has been asked to present himself for questioning on April 16. The CBI's summons to the AAP chief comes more than a month after the arrest of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the same case. Sisodia, who was arrested by the CBI on February 26, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. The case relates to alleged irregularities in granting licences to liquor traders under the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22. It was alleged that certain dealers were favoured — a charge the AAP has denied. The policy was later scrapped. Following the CBI summons, the AAP said it was a part of a conspiracy to “intimidate” and “silence” Kejriwal in his fight against corruption. The BJP said the law was merely taking its course and that the Chief Minister was not only involved in the scam but was its “mastermind”. Kejriwal has not been named by either the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in their respective cases filed in connection with the excise policy. The ED, which is probing a related money laundering case, also arrested Sisodia on March 9, based on the CBI’s findings in its case. अत्याचार का अंत ज़रूर होगा।@ArvindKejriwal जी को CBI द्वारा समन किये जाने के मामले में शाम 6 बजे प्रेसवार्ता करूँगा। — Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) April 14, 2023 The CBI began its probe last year after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena wrote to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, recommending an inquiry by the central agency into the matter. The recommendation was based on a report Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar submitted to Saxena's office on July 8 last year. In his report, Kumar cited procedural lapses in the implementation of the excise policy and claimed that post-tender benefits were extended to the licencees. On August 17 last year, the CBI filed an FIR and, two days later, searched 21 locations in Delhi, including Sisodia’s residence. The first high-profile arrest the CBI made in the case was of Vijay Nair, AAP’s communication in-charge, on September 28. Later, on November 14, Nair was placed under arrest by the ED as well. Reacting to the CBI summons to Kejriwal, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh targeted the Prime Minister. “The very day he exposed, on the floor of Delhi Assembly, that the black money belonging to a businessman friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was actually his, I had told him that he would be next (to go behind bars),” he alleged. Alleging that the BJP government at the Centre was “steeped in corruption from head to toe”, Singh said Kejriwal's nationwide battle against corruption will not stop on account of the summons from the CBI. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said truth has prevailed. “Satyamev Jayate; from the very first day, we have been saying that Arvind Kejriwal is the central figure in the excise policy scam and that it was at his instructions that it unfolded in Delhi. we welcome the summons issued to Kejriwal, the mastermind of the scam,” he said. Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said the summons issued to the Chief Minister was procedural and that he had no reason to fear if he had “not done anything wrong”. “Manish Sisodia's personal secretary has clearly told investigators that all the dealings related to the excise policy took place at Arvind Kejriwal's residence and at his instructions,” Khurana alleged. Incidentally, amid much talk about Opposition unity, the Congress central leadership maintained silence on the issue while its Delhi unit chief Anil Chaudhary, who is fighting the AAP in Delhi, demanded Kejriwal's resignation. Chaudhary said Kejriwal, who had emerged from the Anna Hazare movement, is now at the CBI's doorsteps. “Kejriwal is responsible… the mastermind for turning Delhi into the capital of scandals…To maintain the dignity of the office of the Chief Minister… resign and then go to the CBI’s doorsteps,” he tweeted. Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, meanwhile, said “the BJP should not use this agency for any political settlement”. Several other Opposition parties hit out at the BJP government at the Centre. “Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the CBI for questioning…. Wonderful…. I would urge the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to lock up all the Opposition leaders of the country… you keep working in a dictatorial way,” said RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha. “You have created such a situation for these investigative agencies that they can only see the houses of the Opposition leaders…,” he said, adding that the government is targeting Opposition parties to divert attention from the questions being raised on the Adani group. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called it a political witch-hunt. “Does the CBI summons to the Delhi Chief Minister have anything to do with his speech in the Delhi Assembly recently exposing the crony nexus of the BJP central government and Adani Group? Nothing but political witch-hunt!” she said. CPI general secretary D Raja said: “Kejriwal is the elected Chief Minister of Delhi. The way it is being done really raises several questions regarding the way the CBI is functioning. Already the probe is on. then why the Chief Minister….” With ENS, Delhi
