Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has authorized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute AAP Chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case. This decision comes ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly Elections.
On December 5, the ED had requested approval for the prosecution of Kejriwal. This move follows months of investigations into the Delhi government's controversial excise policy, which has been surrounded by corruption allegations.
On December 20, the Delhi High Court granted the ED additional time to respond to a petition filed by Kejriwal and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. The petition challenges the trial court's decision to accept the chargesheets in the Delhi Excise Liquor Policy case. The next hearing is scheduled for February 5 before Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri.
The Delhi High Court recently issued a notice regarding a plea from AAP leaders Kejriwal and Sisodia, contesting the trial court's decision to take cognisance of the ED’s chargesheet in the excise policy case. Both leaders are currently out on bail in relation to cases filed by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over the now-scrapped excise policy.
The ED claims the excise policy was intentionally designed with loopholes to benefit AAP leaders and facilitate cartel formation. The agency has accused Kejriwal and other party leaders of receiving kickbacks from liquor businesses in exchange for preferential treatment, including discounts, license fee waivers, and Covid-19 relief.
Allegations include that the “scam” involved granting wholesale liquor distribution rights to private entities with a fixed 12 percent margin, in return for a 6 percent kickback. Additionally, the ED alleges that AAP leaders influenced elections in Punjab and Goa in early 2022.
Reacting to the development, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) party described the move as an attempt to “politically tarnish the AAP government,” accusing the ED of “violating every procedural norm” and engaging in harassment under the guise of investigation.
The AAP stated, “The fact that they are discussing prosecution approval almost a year after the complaint was filed highlights the indifference with which the ED is handling this case.”
“The alleged liquor scam investigation has dragged on for two years, involving the harassment of 500 people, the filing of 50,000 pages of documents, and over 250 raids. Yet, not a single rupee has been recovered,” AAP claimed.