Kejriwal Threatens to Sue CBI, ED for Perjury, Convenes Special Session of Delhi Assembly to Discuss CBI Summons
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 15: A day after he was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation for questioning in the alleged Delhi liquor scam, the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the prime minister Narendra Modi for “weaponising” the central agencies against the opposition with false cases and threatened to sue these agencies for perjury.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party also convened a special session of the state Assembly on Monday to discuss the CBI summons a day after Kejriwal would appear before the agency on Sunday morning in response to its summons. His former deputy Manish Sisodia is already in jail in the same case.
“The situation is not good. It should be discussed in the assembly. Leaders of the Delhi government will speak about what is going on,” the Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters on Saturday. Kejriwal has threatened to file a case against both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged perjury by filing false affidavits in courts.
“We will file appropriate cases against CBI and ED officials for perjury and producing false evidence in courts,” Kejriwal tweeted. Kejriwal alleged the ED in its charge-sheet said Sisodia destroyed 14 phones and the IMEI numbers – a unique identity of each phone – were included in documents given to the court.
“The seizure memo shows that out of these 14 phones, four are with the ED and one with the CBI. Most of the other phones are active and are being used by AAP volunteers. The ED and the CBI know about these phones. They are misleading the court by filing false affidavits,” Kejriwal alleged.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, responding to Kejriwal’s tweet, took a swipe at the Delhi Chief Minister over his threat. “Forgot to mention that you will file case against the court also if it convicts you? Let the law take its own course and we must believe in rule of law. Will you go to court against ED, CBI and if the court also goes against you, then will you go against the court too?” Rijiju tweeted.
The CBI, meanwhile, has reiterated that Kejriwal had been summoned as a witness and nor an accused in the liquor scam case. Clarifying why it wanted to question Kejriwal, the CBI officials said the then secretary to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has told investigators that the draft liquor policy was given to him in March, 2021, by the now-arrested leader at Arvind Kejriwal’s home. The bureaucrat, C Arvind, has given the statement before a magistrate, making it admissible evidence in court. The CBI wanted Kejriwal’s statement on the meeting, as it allegedly took place at his residence.
It was also pointed out that the excise policy was cleared by the Delhi cabinet led by Kejriwal after an inquiry ordered by then Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the clearance came after it had been deferred twice; the CBI wants to find out why, sources said. The policy was scrapped on July 30, 2022, less than a year after it was introduced, and the Delhi cabinet, led by Kejriwal, decided to revert to the old policy.
According to sources, the CBI would like to know why it was withdrawn despite the Delhi government, including Kejriwal, claiming the new policy was far better.
Earlier Kejriwal said courts were being lied to, those arrested were being tortured and there was not a shred of proof of any wrongdoing. Launching a blistering attack on Modi and the BJP, Kejriwal said agencies like the CBI and the ED were going to extraordinary lengths to target their fiercest political opponents.
He alleged that besides putting up false evidences, the central agencies lying to the courts in affidavits, torturing suspects to extract falsified confessions and employing thuggish threats like “will see how your daughter gets to college tomorrow”, he claimed. The Chief Minister also said that despite months of investigation, and scores of arrests, including his former deputy Manish Sisodia, the agencies have not found a single penny of ill-gotten wealth that they claim was amassed from the so-called liquor scam.
“When they found nothing in raids, they said the money had been funnelled into our Goa election campaign. Where is the proof of this? All our payments were made with cheques. Show me a single rupee of the ₹ 100 crore you claim we got,” Kejriwal said.
“If I say, without proof, that I paid Prime Minister Narendra Modi ₹ 1,000 crore on the 17th of September at 7 pm, will you arrest him?” the AAP Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief asked. “The same policy, which they call corrupt, was introduced in Punjab and has resulted in a 50 per cent increase in revenue. It was a game-changing and transparent policy,” Kejriwal said, adding that he will appear for questioning tomorrow as asked.
The CBI is probing allegations that the liquor policy implemented by the Delhi government last year, which ended government control over the sale of liquor in the capital, gave undue advantages to private retailers.
Alleging the involvement of the “highest levels” of Kejriwal’s government in the swindle, the agency has claimed crores in kickbacks were paid for favours in the policy and funnelled into his party’s election campaign in Goa last year.
“People are being asked to falsely take my name and Sisodia’s name. One Chandan Reddy, whom we are not acquainted with, was tortured and his medical report says he suffered trauma to his ears and face. These people are using third degree, mental harassment and physical torture to extract false statements.
“Sameer Mahendru and Arun Pillai have been tortured. One person, who has two young daughters, was asked, ‘How will your daughter go to college tomorrow?’ Another one was quizzed, while his wife and father were made to sit in another room and he was threatened that they would be sent to jail,” he claimed.
