New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a supplementary charge sheet against former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case, said officials on Tuesday. He was arrested by the probe agency on February 26 in the case.
The agency has also named Hyderabad-based CA Butchi Babu Gorantla, liquor trader Amandeep Singh Dhall and private person Arjun Pandey in the charge sheet. The CBI has invoked IPC 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 and 420 besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
In its charge sheet filed before a special CBI court here, the agency said the probe is kept open to look into larger conspiracy and role of other accused in the case. The CBI had filed the last charge sheet on November 25, 2022. It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped.
"It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, including modifications in the excise policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, the extension of L-1 license without approval etc. "It was also alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts," a CBI spokesperson had said after the FIR was filed on August 17 last year.
On April 20, the CBI opposed the bail plea moved by Delhi's former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia stating that his party colleagues holding high ranks in government and were making factually wrong claims to influence the investigation.
"The applicant (Sisodia) enjoys a nexus with the executive, offices and bureaucrats and his influence and clout are evident. His party colleagues, holding high ranks, continue to make factually wrong claims in order to influence the investigation and also claim the applicant to be the victim of a political vendetta," CBI mentioned, opposing the bail plea.
A perusal of the said statements by these political leaders (s) during the press conferences would reveal how the entire efforts of not only the applicant but his party colleagues as a whole are to shield the accused, stated CBI.
"The statements also undermine the authority of the Special Judge (CBI), having already taken cognizance of the offences, and are being made to adversely impact the investigation by levelling unwarranted and unsubstantiated allegations against the CBI, thereby influencing and deterring the witnesses of the case," it said.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 over alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy in the National Capital. The senior AAP leader has been charged by ED with conspiracy and active involvement in the formulation of the policy in lieu of kickbacks.
