Delhi excise policy scam: Sisodia to appear before CBI today
NEW DELHI,OCT. 17: With the CBI summoning Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to appear before it on Monday for questioning over his alleged role in the excise policy rip-off, his Aam Aadmi Party claimed he would be arrested to stymie its gains in poll-bound Gujarat.
This is the first time the CBI has summoned Sisodia, who is the primary accused in the case related to the now-scrapped liquor policy, for questioning. Sisodia took to Twitter to say he will visit the CBI headquarters at 11 am and provide full cooperation to the probe.
“The CBI raided my house for 14 hours, but nothing came out of it. They searched my bank locker and found nothing. They did not find anything in my village. Now they have called me to CBI Headquarters at 11 am tomorrow. I will go and give my full cooperation,” he tweeted in Hindi.
The AAP claimed the BJP is rattled by its rise in Gujarat where it is gearing up to give a tough fight. “To shift the agenda from the growing anti-incumbency against its 27-year-long tenure, the BJP now wants to dent the AAP’s poll run, which is why they have conspired to have Manish Sisodia arrest at the CBI headquarters tomorrow,” party leader Atishi alleged.
Minutes after Sisodia’s tweet, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal rallied around him and the other jailed former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, likening them to freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. “Jail bars and hanging noose could not deter Bhagat Singh’s lofty intentions. This is the second fight for freedom. Manish and Satyendra are today’s Bhagat Singh,” Kejriwal claimed.
The CBI FIR against Sisodia and 14 others mentions various IPC sections, including 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 477A (falsification of records), and section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which deals with taking undue advantage to influence a public servant by corrupt or illegal means.
-TNIE
