According to the most recent development in the Delhi Liquor Policy scam, the Enforcement Department has said that the former deputy chief minister and stalwart of the Aam Aadmi Party, Manish Sisodia, pocketed Rs 2.2 crores in the scandal.
In its charge sheet against the imprisoned AAP leader, the ED has charged that he obtained the money through his close associate Dinesh Arora from businessman Amit Arora in order to benefit the latter in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021–22.
The charge sheet mentioned, “The investigation has revealed that Dinesh Arora (a close aide of Sisodia) and Amit Arora (owner of Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd, arrested on November 30 last year) were involved in various illegal activities pertaining to the Delhi excise Policy 2021-22 and its implementation in conspiracy with other players of this scam.”
“Further, in the policy under investigation, Manish Sisodia has participated in conspiracies with other persons other than the South Group. Sisodia has received kickbacks of Rs 2.2 crore from Amit Arora through Dinesh Arora for doing favours in the excise policy 2021-22,” it added.
This is the first time an entity looking into the anomalies in the excise policy has explicitly and quantitatively linked a bribe amount to the deputy CM. The Central Bureau of Investigation is also conducting a parallel investigation into the matter. A Delhi court accepted the charge sheet, which was submitted on May 4, on Tuesday, and summoned the politician on June 1.
Notably, Amit Arora’s statements have been quoted by the anti-money laundering organisation to support their claim.
“This is completely fake. ED chargesheet is complete fiction. ED first implicated (AAP Rajya Sabha member) Sanjay Singh and then withdrew their charges formally in the court. Then they said that Manish ji destroyed 14 phones, which were subsequently found in ED custody. Likewise, this is also a completely false charge,” AAP released a statement rejecting the allegations.
As per the ED charge sheet, Amit Arora’s company utilised cash proceeds to pay Manish Sisodia kickbacks. “He (Amit Arora) has submitted the tally accounts of his companies wherein he had paid this money from cash generated from daily sales operations. It has details about cash not deposited on multiple dates for the purpose of paying Manish Sisodia,” the chargesheet accused.
The first instalment of one crore was paid in the second week of April (2021), as stated by the ED, which referenced Amit Arora’s April 9 statement. The remaining 1.2 crore was paid over the course of the next two to three months from the sales revenues of the same firms.
The charge sheet reported that Amit Arora went to meet Manish Sisodia in March 2021 and requested that a clause be added to the policy stating that no other bidder would receive a NOC (no objection certificate), and as a result, would not take control of his airport enterprise, after learning that the “South Group” was going to enter the Delhi liquor business and was also interested in the airport business, which the former managed.
Amit Arora, along with Dinesh Arora, had met Manish Sisodia at his home to discuss the addition of this element to the excise policy. When they approached him and explained the idea and provision, the latter assured them, “Okay, it will be done. Rest you can talk to Dinesh.” The charge sheet also pointed out that Dinesh Arora informed Amit Arora that he needed to pay 2.5 crore in order to accomplish his work. The revised policy eventually included the provision.
The ED also informed that Dinesh Arora set up a meeting with the founding member of AAP in September 2021 before the start of business under the 2021–22 excise policy, when retailers encountered several difficulties in operating storefronts or vending machines.
The charge sheet highlighted, “In this meeting, Dinesh Arora arrived 15 minutes late, after the (former) Deputy chief minister had already arrived. The meeting was started only after the arrival of Dinesh Arora and Sisodia gestured Dinesh Arora to join and sit right next to him in the meeting. (This fact has been corroborated by other persons also who were present in the meeting).”
“This sent a message across the industry that Dinesh Arora was the person acting on behalf of AAP for the excise matters. Dinesh Arora also used to mention that he was collecting 6% kickbacks on behalf of Sisodia. In addition, he had been boasting about his closeness with Arvind Kejriwal (the CM of Delhi). As per his experience and understanding, Dinesh Arora was hand in gloves with (AAP communications in-charge) Vijay Nair and was handling cash on his instructions for AAP,” it proclaimed.
The 2021–22 excise policy of the Delhi government attempted to revive the city’s struggling liquor industry. It promised swankier storefronts without the iconic metal grilles, eventually offering customers a better shopping experience, and it sought to replace a system for traders based on sales volume with one based on licencing fees. A first for Delhi, the policy also included discounts and offers on the purchase of alcoholic beverages.
However, the proposal was abruptly abandoned when lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena suggested a CBI investigation into purported deviations in the regime. The AAP claims that his predecessor undermined the move with a few last-minute tweaks that led to lower-than-expected income, which eventually led to the policy being prematurely cancelled and replaced with the 2020-21 regime.
Manish Sisodia was apprehended by CBI on February 26 after the agency said that it had found multiple damning pieces of evidence in the case and that the arrest was necessary in order to conduct a fair probe.
He was held by the CBI for seven days before being transferred by the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court to Tihar Jail, where he was arrested by the ED on March 9 following a nine-hour questioning. However, the investigation has been brushed aside by Manish Sisodia and the AAP as politically driven.
