Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Saturday authorized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the Excise policy scam case, Secretariat officials informed.
According to officials, the ED had sought permission to prosecute Kejriwal on December 5 and had written to Delhi Chief Secretary Dharmendra as Chief Vigilance Officer in this regard.
On its part, the AAP claimed that there was no such sanction, accusing the ED of indifference in investigating the case that led to the jailing of several senior party leaders, including Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia.
“This Office is informed that a Prosecution Complaint (SPC-7) has been filed against Mr. Arvind Kejriwal (Accused No. 37), on 17.05.2024 with M/s Indo-Spirit and others for formulation of Excise Policy for the year 2021-22 of GNCTD, Delhi and In the case of irregularity in execution, the request for “recognition states. .
The ED added that a special court had also taken cognizance of the prosecution complaint filed on 09.07.2024 and the Supreme Court had clarified the provisions of the CR in the case of ED vs. Vibhu Prasad Acharya and others. PC as applied to Section 65 of PMLA and Section 71(1) “cannot override the provisions of Cr.PC applicable to PMLA” by its judgment dated 06.11.2024.
“In view of the above facts and circumstances, sanction may be required to prosecute Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, former Chief Minister, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, for the offense of money laundering under Section 4 of PMLA…” the sanction added.
According to Secretariat officials, Saxena later approved the prosecution of Kejriwal in connection with the ED case.
Speaking on the development, AAP said: “The fact that they are talking about sanctioning prosecution almost a year after the complaint was registered shows how the Enforcement Directorate is handling this case.”
Calling it an attempt to “politically defame the AAP government”, the party accused the agency of “violating every procedural norm” and harassment in the name of investigation.
“The investigation into the so-called liquor scam has dragged on for two years, harassed 500 people, filed 50,000 pages of documents, and conducted over 250 raids, without a single penny being recovered,” AAP alleged.
“And many holes in the case have been highlighted by various court orders over the years. BJP’s real aim is to crush AAP and Arvind Kejriwal by any means necessary,” it added.
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