Delhi Excise Policy scam: CBI files final charge sheet against CM Arvind Kejriwal

In its charge sheet against K Kavitha, CBI stated that a liquor businessman met Arvind Kejriwal in 2021 and requested the Delhi CM to provide support in his business in the national capital by tweaking the Excise Policy 2021-22. FIle pic

Concluding its probe in the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed its final charge sheet in the case against Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal and other accused, officials said.

CBI earlier filed one main charge sheet and four supplementary charge sheets in the case in which former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Telangana legislator K Kavitha and others have also been charged.

In its charge sheet against K Kavitha, CBI stated that liquor businessman Magunta Sreenivasalu Reddy (who is also a Telugu Desam Party parliamentarian), met Kejriwal on March 16, 2021, in his office at the Delhi Secretariat and requested him to provide support in his business in the national capital by tweaking the Excise Policy 2021-22 which was then in the making, ANI reported.

The charge sheet by the investigation agency further accused the Delhi CM of assuring support to Reddy. According to CBI, Kejriwal asked Reddy to contact Kavitha as she was working with the CM's team on the Excise Policy of Delhi.

In return, Kejriwal told Reddy to provide funds to his Aam Aadmi Party, CBI claimed.

The agency also alleged that kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore were paid in advance to some politicians of the AAP, which is in power in Delhi, as well as to some other government officials by some persons in the liquor business from South India through co-accused Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and Dinesh Arora to tweak the Excise Policy for 2021-22.

According to CBI, these kickbacks are found to have been returned to them subsequently out of the profit margins of wholesalers holding L-1 licenses through different modes, such as issuance of excess credit notes, bank transfers, and outstanding amounts left in accounts of the companies controlled, by some conspirators from the South lobby.

The agency alleged that a cartel was formed between three stakeholders of the policy - liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers - by violating the provisions and by going against the spirit of the policy.

All the conspirators allegedly played active roles in achieving the illegal objectives of the said criminal conspiracy. It resulted in huge losses to the exchequer and undue pecuniary benefits to the government officials and the other accused involved in the conspiracy, CBI alleged.

(With PTI inputs)