Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had a “preconceived” plan to privatise liquor business in the national capital and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) benefited from illicit funds it raised through the excise policy “scam”, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged before a special court here.
The CBI made the allegations before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja in its supplementary charge sheet filed against Kejriwal in the case recently.
The court took cognisance of the charge sheet against Kejriwal, AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak and others on September 3.
According to sources, the CBI alleged that Kejriwal, who was the overall in-charge of the party as its national convenor, was behind the criminal conspiracy to generate illicit funds.
It alleged that in order to execute his preconceived plan, Kejriwal sought monetary support for AAP in March 2021, when the excise policy was being formulated by a Group of Ministers (GoM) led by co-accused Manish Sisodia. Sisodia was then the deputy chief minister and held the excise portfolio.
Kejriwalâs close associate and AAP’s former communication in-charge Vijay Nair, also an accused in the case, was alleged to have approached various stakeholders in the liquor business and demanded illegal gratification in exchange for “favourable adjustments” in the policy.
The charge sheet claimed that Nair had no authority or reason to approach different stakeholders in the liquor business and that he could not have done so without Kejriwal’s authorisation and direction.