Delhi Excise Policy Case: Manish Sisodia Named as Accused in CBI Chargesheet
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a second charge sheet in the Delhi Liquor Policy Case, and it mentions the name of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Sisodia is accused number one in the CBI FIR. He has been charged under sections 7, 7a, 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act and 120(b) and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Along with him, Butchi Babu, Arjun Pandey and Amandeep Dhal were also named in the FIR.
The central agency said that it has failed to establish the money trail reaching Sisodia.
In the chargesheet, CBI mentions how bribes were paid by South Group to AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair, but the party has questioned that there was no recovery of any money for illegal assets during searches at Sisodia’s premises.
Even after the supplementary chargesheet, officials told CNN-News18, the investigation will continue to track down the bribe money that was allegedly paid.
“We have oral evidence to suggest that bribe money paid through hawala was used in Goa and Punjab,” an officer in the know told CNN-News18.
For further probe, the agency could now investigate expenses incurred during AAP’s campaign for the Punjab state elections, and also see if there were any gains by the suspects in the liquor policy in the state.
As of now, the agency suspects 1 Crore upfront bribe paid to Nair by the South Group, which was allegedly diverted to Goa elections.
Officials said there is evidence of 30-40 lakhs paid in cash to Goa advertisers who collaborated with AAP for election hoardings. BJP has also alleged that Punjab elections were funded by AAP using the bribe money allegedly received from the south group.
Fake Tweets used to bolster new liquor policy
The agency further said that Sisodia used fake Twitter likes to show public support for the new liquor policy.
For this, interns working in Sisodia’s office were asked to use their personal accounts to like tweets which asked for public opinion on the liquor policy.
Expert Committee red-flagged to change liquor policy
Before the Delhi cabinet approved the liquor policy, an expert committee had been set up to review the proposed draft.
This committee reportedly had red flagged the decision to change the existing policy and the profit margin.
Probe officials said Sisodia was unhappy about the expert committee ‘s report and sought public opinion on the draft.
As per probe by CBI and ED the expert committee report was not provided to GOM or Cabinet which ultimately approved the changed policy.
