Case Study: Delhi Liquor Policy: Arrests of Prominent Political Figures

Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal was taken into custody on Thursday in relation to the Delhi excise policy issue. Regarding the excise policy, one case has been filed with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). If money was laundered utilizing the policy, the ED is looking into it.

Two other prominent AAP leaders, including K Kavitha, the leader of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, are incarcerated in addition to Kejriwal.

The lawsuit is based on a report that Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena received in July 2022 from Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. The research detailed instances when “arbitrary and unilateral decisions” were taken by former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was also the excise minister at the time, and emphasized alleged procedural flaws in the policy’s creation. Over Rs 580 crore in “financial losses to the exchequer” resulted from these rulings.

According to the report, the AAP formed the government in Punjab as a result of payments paid by AAP officials and the Delhi government from the alcohol industry during the early 2022 Assembly elections in Punjab and Goa. According to the study, the owners and operators of the alcohol industry were given special treatment, including reduced license fees, license fee extensions, waivers of fines, and compensation for interruptions brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Following the report’s referral to the CBI, Sisodia was taken into custody.

Subsequently, the ED told a court in March that the purported proceeds of crime surpassed Rs 292 crore and emphasized the need to prove the modus operandi after the CBI identified Sisodia and 14 other people in its FIR, including AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair.

According to the ED, the “scam” entailed giving private companies a set 12% margin on the wholesale liquor industry, which allowed for a 6% commission. The ED claimed that the policy was purposefully designed with gaps that permitted “cartel formations” and benefitted AAP officials in its first criminal charge, which was submitted in November 2021.

AAP Convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal:
Investigating agencies claimed that AAP communications chief Vijay Nair was working on behalf of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal when he and a certain “South Group” gave wholesalers extraordinary profit margins that were otherwise left out of the minutes of Group of Ministers (GoM) meetings during the policy-making process.

Manish Sisodia (AAP Leader, Ex-Deputy Chief Minister):
Manish Sisodia, the deputy minister for Delhi, has been detained by the court in relation to the matter. He is charged with modifying the policy to provide license holders with unfair advantages. In addition, he is charged with money laundering and is said to have earned “illegal” earnings.

Dinesh Arora became an approver in a money-laundering case connected to the Delhi excise policy, according to Sanjay Singh, an AAP Rajya Sabha MP. Allegedly connected to Singh, Arora said that he had arranged Rs 82 lakh for the AAP’s Delhi assembly election campaign at Singh’s request. Additionally, he said that Singh brought him to meet Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, during a party held at his restaurant.

Telangana’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi Leader, Kavitha Kalvakuntla:
Kavitha, 46, a former MP and the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was detained last week on suspicion of involvement in the Delhi excise policy case. Kavitha is accused of receiving advantages from the now-expired Delhi liquor policy, paying payments to government employees, and being a member of the aforementioned “South Group.”