Delhi liquor scam | Allegations against AAP BJP's conspiracy to defame party: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the excise policy case is a desperate attempt by the BJP to “malign an honest party like the AAP”.

Kejriwal’s remarks came two days after a Delhi court granted bail to two accused in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged irregularities in formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. The court said the evidence against the accused, Rajesh Joshi and Gautam Malhotra, was not sufficient for the case against them to be considered prima facie “genuine”.

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Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP accused Kejriwal of trying to divert attention from the renovation “scam” involving his bungalow, by hoisting the issue of bail granted to two accused in the excise policy case. With the court repeatedly denying bail to Manish Sisodia and “loss of public image” due to the “bungalow scam”, Kejriwal is trying to create a perception that there is no liquor scam, said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.

The whole liquor scam is false. We were saying it from beginning. Now even courts have started saying it. Its a desperate measure by BJP to malign an honest party like AAP. https://t.co/kOAxeUt84x

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 8, 2023

Kejriwal also took to Twitter and said the whole liquor scam is false. Addressing a press conference later in the day, the chief minister reiterated that the allegations against the AAP in the Delhi liquor scam are nothing but a “political conspiracy hatched by the BJP to defame him and his party”. He urged the judiciary to take appropriate action against those who are using the ED-CBI for their political interests.

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“The CBI-ED have also accepted in the court that they do not have any evidence of this scam. The CBI-ED had alleged that a person named Rajesh Joshi translocated Rs 30 crore from the South Lobby and handed it over to the AAP leadership in Delhi. The only proof they have is that someone had stated to them that Joshi gave Rs 30 crore to AAP,” he added.

(With Agency inputs)