Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at Dussehra celebrations
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, October 30: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has called Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on November 2. The development has come on a day when the bail plea of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Sources said that Kejriwal has been asked to appear before the ED for questioning on November 2 in the alleged liquor scam. The excise policy is being probed by both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Kejriwal has already been questioned by the CBI.
This may be the first occasion when a serving chief minister will be grilled by the ED, which has the principal mandate to probe the cases of money laundering. There were reports that the ED is seeking to make the Aam Aadmi Party a party in the alleged liquor scam after the arrest of the Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.
It may be recalled that Singh was arrested on the allegations that a transaction of Rs 2 crores took place at his residence. With the bail plea of Sisodia rejected by the two judge-bench of Justices Sanjeev Khanna and SJVN Bhatti, the AAP camp is filled with suspense over the fate of the party’s leadership at a crucial time when they were aiming to go big in the Lok Sabha elections next year. The Supreme Court bench ruled that tentatively the transfer of Rs 338 crores has been established even while certain legal issues remain unanswered. The rivals of the AAP are claiming that the apex court judgment is a massive blow of the AAP.
Former Delhi minister Satyender Jain is already in the judicial custody for almost two years. Sisodia was arrested in February this year. With Singh’s arrest, the top echelon of the AAP leadership is already in the legal trouble, slapped with serious charges of money laundering. Incidentally, Kejriwal, Sisodia, Singh and Raghav Chaddha form the top layer of the leadership of the AAP.
With the AAP recently gaining the national party status, the legal troubles for the leadership of the outfit may have consequences for the growth in the immediate future and could also even cause discomforts in the second rung of the leadership.
About The Author
