Arvind Kejriwal gets clean chit from CBI and Lokayukta in corruption case filed by ex-AAP minister Kapil Mishra

Both the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) and the Lokayukta have given a clean chit to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for charges of corruption filed against him by former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Kapil Mishra. [caption id=“attachment_4716701” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] Mishra had alleged that he had seen Kejriwal accepting Rs two crore in cash from Satyendra Kumar Jain, another AAP leader. Mishra was suspended from the party on 6 May, 2017 and the next day gave a statement to the media stating that Jain had handed over Rs two crore Kejriwal on 5 May at the chief minister’s residence. Mishra had alleged that he had informed the Delhi government’s anti-corruption branch and then filed a complaint with the CBI and the Lokyaukta. He had even recorded his statement with the Lokayukta but didn’t submit any evidence. Thus, the CBI citing lack of evidence and on finding no merit in Mishra’s allegations, didn’t launch a formal probe. Following which, the Lokayukta too closed the case against Kejriwal, according to a  Times of India report. Mishra — the erstwhile minister for water, and art and culture — was was sacked due to “mismanagement in water supply and billing”. The AAP on Tuesday said that the “sacked” leader’s claims that Kejriwal took money have been busted. Addressing the media, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said,“Mishra’s lies were exposed when the AAP asked him about the exact time of the day when he visited the chief minister’s residence and refused to answer, saying that he only answered to the CBI.”

“Mishra confidently claimed that he was an eyewitness to the alleged corrupt activity at the chief minister’s residence. But when AAP asked him the exact time, his lie was revealed,” Bhardwaj said, adding that “the CCTV at the chief minister’s house is evidence that Mishra did not even go there on 5 May, 2017”. Bhardwaj further said that it is now duty of the media to “question Kapil Mishra about the basis of his allegations”. With inputs from agencies