NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday ordered a CBI probe into the Aam Aadmi Party government’s new excise policy in Delhi.
This newspaper was the first to report that the city government’s liquor policy was likely to be probed by the CBI.
In his letter to the CBI, Saxena said the Delhi government executed “major decisions/actions in violation of the statutory provisions and the notified excise policy that had huge financial implications”.
The L-G accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led regime of extending “undue financial favours to the liquor licensees much after the tenders had been awarded and thus caused huge losses to the exchequer.”
The letter said a CBI investigation has been ordered after a report by the Delhi chief secretary established prima facie violations of GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules 1993, Delhi Excise Act 2009 and Delhi Excise Rules 2010.
Among the charges levelled in the chief secretary’s report are relaxation of tender conditions to provide undue financial favours to some licensees, refund of earnest money deposit to a licensee, allowing windfall gains to some licensees by restricting the number of vends per ward, extending licence period without clearance from the competent authority, etc.
Raj Bhavan sources said illegal decisions were sought to be legalised through a post-facto approval by convening an urgent meeting of the Delhi Cabinet on June 14.
The chief secretary was informed about the meeting only at 9.32 am and no cabinet note was circulated. The LG’s office was informed at 5 pm that day. Sources said “any decision involving a policy matter should be brought to the advance information of the LG and would hold ground only after a subsequent approval. This meeting was convened to deliberate and decide upon a policy matter and was not of an emergency nature. The brazen decisions prove mal-intent on the part of the state government.”
The chief secretary’s report names deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is in charge of the excise department, as the person who got the decisions executed.
The AAP dismissed the charges as politically motivated. Kejriwal, however, avoided speaking on the specific charges levelled against his government by the chief secretary.
He also said Sisodia is a "hardcore honest" man and he fears that the deputy chief minister could be arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a few days.
The AAP alleged that the CBI probe was recommended by the LG at the behest of the BJP-led Centre to implicate Sisodia in a fake case and keep the Kejriwal-led party at bay in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Sisodia heads the excise department of the Delhi government.
"I came to know that a case has been sent to the CBI against Manish Sisodia and the agency is going to arrest him in a few days. It is a completely fake case. There is not even an iota of truth in this case," Kejriwal said at an online briefing.
The AAP national convenor said he has known Sisodia for 22 years and vouched for his honesty, saying he worked round the clock to improve the standard of the government schools in Delhi.
"This case will not hold in a court. Manish is a hardcore honest man and he will walk free," he said.
In an apparent reference to the Centre, Kejriwal said "these people" are after the AAP because the entire country is convinced that it is an "honest" party.
"These people want to stop the great work that we are doing in Delhi. They want to throw mud on us through fake cases to show that we are also corrupt like them," he said.
Kejriwal said the AAP's "storm" is blowing across the country since its victory in the Punjab Assembly polls earlier this year.
"These people want to stop it. They do not want the AAP to become their challenger in the country," he added.
"Do whatever you want. You can throw as much mud as you want, but it is not sticking to us. We are clean. We walk the path of truth and the god is with us," the Delhi chief minister said.
He said the AAP has become the hope of the people of India, asserting that nobody can now stop his party from expanding its base across the country.
Referring to the recent arrest of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in a money-laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kejriwal alleged that his ministers are being targeted because of the AAP's growing popularity across the country.
A new system has been brought in the country, he said, adding, "First, it is decided who has to be sent to jail. Then a fabricated and fake case is made against him and he is forcibly sent to jail."
"You put Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia in jail. Put Arvind Kejriwal in jail too. Crucify him. Many more Arvind Kejriwal will come out, many more Manish Sisodia will come out and the country will move forward," Kejriwal said.
"All of you (BJP leaders) are the children of (Vinayak Damodar) Savarkar, who had apologised to the British. We are the children of Bhagat Singh, we consider Bhagat Singh, who refused to bow before the British, our idol. We are not afraid of jail and the hanging noose," he added.
At a press briefing, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the CBI probe was recommended by the LG at the behest of the Centre to implicate Sisodia in a fake case and keep the Kejriwal-led party at bay in the upcoming Assembly polls.
He also alleged that the Centre has been making efforts to "somehow" implicate all the Delhi ministers in fake cases as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scared of the growing popularity of the AAP and Kejriwal.
"The Centre will try to implicate more of our ministers. It has asked officials to find out anything, true or false, and launch a probe so that the AAP can be kept confined to Delhi and Punjab," Bharadwaj said replying to a question.
He, however, asserted that nothing will come of it and people will eventually understand everything and wonder why Modi is after AAP leaders.
"We have been anticipating that after Jain, the Centre will try to implicate Sisodia also," he said.
"This is happening because the growing popularity of Arvind Kejriwal across the country has scared the Centre and Prime Minister Modi," Bharadwaj said.
He added that the Centre is "jealous" of Kejriwal's popularity.
"It is very sad for this country that the LG has recommended a CBI inquiry to implicate Manish Sisodia, the most popular education minister in the country, in a fake case," the AAP leader said.
‘BJP scared of AAP’s rise at national level’
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged deputy CM Manish Sisodia is being framed in a “fake case” to stall the AAP’s rise at the national level, adding that his deputy could be arrested in a few days by the CBI.
(With PTI Inputs)