ED arrests AAP MP Sanjay Singh in Delhi excise policy case New Delhi:Enforcement directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in Delhi excise policy case. Earlier in the day, the probe agency had conducted searches at his residence in connection with the case.
It is the second high-profile arrest in the case after former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. The AAP leader was questioned by the central probe agency in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy.
After day-long questioning, Singh was placed under arrest under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Singh is expected to be produced before a local court on Thursday where the ED will seek for his custodial interrogation. The developments led to a political slugfest between AAP and BJP with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal terming it as a desperate measure for the BJP as it stares a defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP hit back at Kejriwal accusing him of being the "kingpin" of the alleged liquor policy scam and saying that "handcuffs" are not far away. The search and subsequent arrest of Singh comes a day after a Delhi court allowed Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha member Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, and Delhi-based businessman Dinesh Arora to turn approver in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
The anti-money laundering agency had arrested Arora in July, when he was already declared an approver in a related corruption case being probed by CBI. Arora was arrested after he allegedly gave evasive replies during his questioning by the ED and was not cooperating with the investigation. The businessman was allegedly a close associate of Sisodia.
The ED, in a supplementary charge sheet, has accused Sisodia of receiving bribes from Amit Arora, another businessman and an accused in the case, through Dinesh Arora. The federal probe agency has described this bribe as "proceeds of crime" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). "Amit Arora paid Rs 2.2 crore to Manish Sisodia through Dinesh Arora for getting policy changes in his favour in the GoM report/excise policy 2021-22... This amount is directly a bribe/kickback to a government functionary and is proceeds of crime under section 2(1)(u) of PMLA, 2002. In this manner, Manish Sisodia participated in the generation of this proceeds of crime," the ED said in its prosecution complaint filed in May.
It was a rare instance of an accused-turned-approver (prosecution witness) in the CBI investigation getting arrested by the ED while the two federal agencies probed the same crime. The ED and the CBI have alleged the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who paid bribes for licences.
The ruling AAP in Delhi has strongly refuted the charge. The excise policy was scrapped after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged corruption. Responding to the searches at its leader's residence, AAP alleged that the ED has "targeted" Singh as he raised issues related to the Adani group in Parliament.
"Sanjay Singh kept on raising questions on the issue of Adani and this is why the raids are being conducted at his residence. The Central agencies found nothing earlier and won't find anything today either. First, they conducted raids at the residence of some journalists yesterday and today, raids conducted at Sanjay Singh's residence," AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta said.
In May this year, Sanjay Singh, in a letter to Finance Secretary TV Somanathan, said the ED director and assistant director deliberately linked his name to the alleged liquor scam without any basis, tarnishing his public image and defaming him. Singh mentioned that his name was added on the basis of statements from Dinesh Arora. The AAP leader alleged further that the officers misused their position to tarnish his public image and demanded prosecution against them.
He added that he had already sent a legal notice to the officers concerned to issue an open and public apology. According to ED sources, the name of the AAP leader appears four times in the ED chargesheet, one of which was typed inadvertently. At one place Sanjay Singh's name was mentioned instead of Rahul Singh, who was the then excise commissioner. (With agency Inputs)
