Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 27: Amidst protests and angry demonstrations by the Aam Aadmi Party workers in various places in the country, a Delhi court on Monday remanded the Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to five days of CBI custody till March 4 for questioning in the alleged liquor scam case.
Sisodia was placed under arrest on Sunday evening after questioning for about and spent the night in the CBI custody in Delhi. The CBI told the court that he was not co-operating and was giving evasive replies to their questions which necessitated his arrest and seek remand for further probe.
The agency told a Delhi court that Sisodia failed to explain at least six contentious provisions in the liquor policy that were not part of the first draft. The agency contends that the changes were made at the behest of a liquor lobby in exchange for kickbacks to the tune of ₹ 30 crore.
Soon after the news of Sisodia’s arrest spread on Monday morning, the AAP workers and supporters hit the streets in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Bhopal, and other cities to protest. In a tweet, AAP alleged that “PM Modi’s Police forcibly enter the AAP office to arrest AAP volunteers” and called it an “Emergency-like situation”.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed near the BJP headquarters in New Delhi as police detained several of the protesters. As AAP protestors tried to march towards the BJP office in Delhi, the police blocked their way. Several protesters who tried to climb the barricades were detained. Visuals from the spot showed the police personnel shoving AAP workers into 10-15 buses.
Manish Sisodia faces corruption allegations in bringing a new liquor sale policy in the national capital. The CBI contends that liquor companies had involved in drafting parts of the 2021 policy, for which kickbacks were paid by a liquor lobby it dubbed the “South Group.”
Giving details of the circumstances leading to his arrest, the CBI sources said, a digital device seized from Delhi excise department led the CBI to unearth the alleged role of Sisodia in the alleged liquor policy scam. The senior AAP leader faces corruption allegations in bringing a now-scrapped liquor sale policy in the national capital. The AAP, however, has denied the charges alleging political vendetta by the BJP-led central government.
According to sources, the digital device was seized during a search at the excise department on August 19. While examining it, the agency traced one of the excise policy draft documents to a system that wasn’t part of the excise department network, the sources said.
When they questioned an excise department official in this connection, they got a lead to the computer in Mr Sisodia’s office, the sources said, adding that they seized the system from the Deputy Chief Minister’s office on January 14.
The sources said most of the files on the system had been deleted, but they managed to retrieve the records with the help of the CBI’s forensic team. The forensic examination, they said, revealed that the document under the scanner had “originated externally” and was received via WhatsApp. Investigation revealed that Mr Sisodia gave the draft note to the excise commissioner after removing the opinion of the legal expert from it, the agency has alleged.
The CBI then summoned a 1996-batch bureaucrat of DANICS — Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil) Services –, who had served as secretary to Mr Sisodia, and questioned him about the file. His statement was recorded before a magistrate in the first week of February.
The officer, the sources said, told investigators that Mr Sisodia called him to the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in March 2021 and gave him a copy of the Group of Ministers’ draft report on the excise policy. The official said Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, now in jail after his arrest in a money laundering case, was also present at the meeting.
It was from this draft copy of the GoM report that the “12% profit margin clause” originated, the sources said. There are no records of any discussion or any file relating to how the 12% profit margin clause was arrived at, the CBI sources added.
During his questioning, Mr Sisodia was asked about this draft document, but he refused to share details, the CBI sources said. In a statement issued after Mr Sisodia’s arrest yesterday, the central agency said “he gave evasive replies and did not cooperate (in) the investigation despite being confronted with evidence to the contrary. Therefore, he has been arrested,” the agency said.
During the more-than-an-hour-long hearing on Monday, Sisodia’s counsel senior advocate Dayan Krishnan said it was the Lieutenant Governor who had approved the changes in the excise policy and that the Central probe agency was going after the elected government. Mr. Sisodia claimed that there was no evidence against him and opposed the CBI’s plea for his remand.
“I am the Finance Minister. I’ve to present the budget…. what changed yesterday that the Finance Minister was to be placed under custody? Was he not available for next days? Or was this arrest done for ulterior motive? This case is an assault on an individual as well as the institution. Remand will send a message, this is a fit case for declining remand,” Mr. Sisodia’s counsel told the court.
He submitted that Mr. Sisodia acted as a member of the Delhi Government and hence the decision can neither be attributed to him nor questioned. “I can’t do anything. It has to be approved by appropriate authority,” he said. The counsel questioned if the inability to answer the CBI’s questions can be a ground for remand. “Their case is that I did not confess. They expect me to answer the way they want. There cannot be self-incrimination,” he said.
He has also argued that the liquor policy was signed off by the Lieutenant Governor in May 2021. “What the CBI is trying to hide here is… LG gave suggestions and even those suggestions were also accepted and included before implementation,” the advocate said.
“I am told that most CBI officers were against Manish’s arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed.
Almost all opposition parties except the Congress have slammed the arrest of Mr Sisodia. The Delhi unit of the Congress, which is in direct competition with the AAP has supported the arrest and said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should be arrested next as he is the “mastermind” of the alleged liquor scam.
The CPI(M) also condemned the arrest of Sisodia accusing the government of using Central agencies to target the Opposition in an attempt to divert attention from the Adani issue.
