New Delhi: The CBI’s FIR on violations of the liquor policy lists Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, as the first accused.
The 11-page FIR against the minister lists the following offences: corruption, criminal conspiracy, and account falsification. Excise Minister Sisodia has strongly denied any wrongdoing. The leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has solidly supported the deputy.
Former Excise Commissioner A. Gopi Krishna, Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari, and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar are the other three officers named in the FIR. According to the CBI, middlemen and alcohol distributors “actively participated in irregularities in the framing and implementation” of the excise policy.
Amit Arora, Dinesh Arora, and Arjun Pandey, according to the agency, were “close associates of Mr Sisodia” who allegedly obtained “commission” from licence holders of alcoholic beverages and gave it to “the accused public workers.” According to FIR, the liquor seller Sameer Mahendru allegedly paid Dinesh Arora’s business 1 crore, and the same trader gave 2-4 crores to another associate Arjun Pandey.
The central probe agency stated Mr Sisodia imposed the new policy about who could sell alcohol in Delhi without the Lieutenant Governor’s permission, who is currently the centre’s representative of Delhi.
After the investigation, it was revealed, that the new policy was revoked on July 30 and was adopted in November. A reference from Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who had suggested a CBI investigation into the alcohol policy, was provided as the foundation for the FIR.