Centre grants sanction to ED to prosecute Kejriwal, Sisodia in money laundering case

The Union home ministry has granted permission to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, along with former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, in a money laundering case linked to the liquor excise policy, now scrppaed.

“[The Ministry of] Home Affairs has recently granted the required sanction to ED for prosecuting Kejriwal under the anti-money laundering law in the Delhi excise policy case,” officials said to news agency PTI.

Now, after the Centre’s approval, the ED can frame charges against Kejriwal and Sisodia. The move clears the path for their prosecution and trial in the case, weeks ahead of the Delhi election.

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Earlier, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena also gave his approval to prosecute the former Delhi chief minister in the case.

ED says Kejriwal is the ‘kingpin’

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in March last year. The agency claims that the former Delhi CM was the “kingpin and key conspirator” of the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

The ED filed a chargesheet against Kejriwal before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi after his arrest.

Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court after spending about six months in jail. He was released from the Tihar Jail on September 13, 2024.

Alleged corruption, money laundering in excise policy

The case involves claims of corruption and money laundering in the implementation of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. The policy aimed to privatise the sale of liquor in Delhi, but it was later alleged that it favoured certain private entities and caused financial losses to the state.

Several AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia, former minister Satyendar Jain, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, were arrested in the money laundering case.  They were later released on bail.

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Stage set for Delhi polls

These developments are likely to impact the Aam Aadmi Party’s preparation for the Delhi Legislative Assembly election as the campaign picks pace for the three-cornered contest. The election is scheduled for February 5, and votes will be counted on February 8. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling at the Centre, and the Congress are campaigning to unseat the AAP, which has formed consecutive governments after 2013, 2015 and 2020 assembly elections.

In the 2020 election, the AAP got a landslide victory with 62 seats, whereas the BJP secured eight seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. In the 2015 election, the AAP won 67 seats and the BJP secured three. In both elections, the Congress was unable to win a seat.