Amidst allegations of corruption against Manish Sisodia in connection to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal came to the defence of his party leader.
In a statement on Monday (August 22), he claimed that Sisodia must be felicitated with the country’s highest civilian award instead of being held accountable for financial irregularities.
“Manish Sisodia reformed govt schools which other parties could not do in 70 years. Such a person should get Bharat Ratna. The entire country’s education system should be handed over to him, but instead, they conducted CBI raids on him,” Kejriwal remarked.
He (Manish Sisodia) reformed govt schools which other parties could not do in 70 years. Such a person should get Bharat Ratna. The entire country’s education system should be handed over to him, but instead, they conducted CBI raids on him: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in Gujarat pic.twitter.com/jl3X6YnUUV
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2022
While his bizarre comments have drawn ridicule from several quarters and rightly so, it has taken away the public discourse from the matter at hand i.e. the estimated loss of ₹900 crores to the exchequer and allegations of corruption through the implementation of Excise Policy 2020-2021 by the Delhi government.
Here is how the controversy unfolded:
September 4, 2020: Expert committee constituted by the Excise Commissioner floats a new excise policy.
November 17, 2021: Delhi government implements Excise Policy 2020-2021. It changes the manner in which alcohol is sold in Delhi. Introduces private players in the market and marks the exit of government-owned liquor vendors.
May 2, 2022: Proposals such as home delivery of liquor, allowing liquor vendors to offer unlimited discounts, opening of stores till 3 am are tabled before the Delhi Cabinet.
July 8, 2022: Naresh Kumar, who was appointed the Chief Secretary of Delhi in April 2022, finds irregularities and procedural lapses in the new liquor policy. He prepares a report and seeks the response of Manish Sisodia on July 8.
July 22, 2022: Incumbent Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, orders a CBI probe on the recommendation of Naresh Kumar.
July 29, 2022: Delhi government makes a U-turn on its new excise policy. Manish Sisodia issues official direction to revert to the old regime of excise policy for the following 6 months.
August 17, 2022: The Central Bureau of Investigation names Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, ex-Only Much Louder (OML) CEO Vijay Nair and 13 others in an FIR for irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2020-2021.
Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia among 15 persons booked by name in FIR filed by CBI. Excise officials, liquor company executives, dealers along with unknown public servants & private persons have too been booked in the case (addresses omitted, previous tweet had personal information) pic.twitter.com/44L12CmHNn
— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2022
August 19, 2022: CBI raids the residence of Manish Sisodia. Besides, 20 locations across 7 States were searched by officials of the central agency.
सीबीआई आई है. उनका स्वागत है. हम कट्टर ईमानदार हैं . लाखों बच्चों का भविष्य बना रहे हैं.
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 19, 2022
बहुत ही दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है कि हमारे देश में जो अच्छा काम करता है उसे इसी तरह परेशान किया जाता है. इसीलिए हमारा देश अभी तक नम्बर-1 नहीं बन पाया.
While dismissing allegations levelled against him, Manish Sisodia claimed, “CBI had come to our house. They are welcome. We (he and his party leaders) are extremely honest. We are building the future of millions of children.”
He added, “It is very unfortunate that those who do good work in our country are harassed in this manner. That is why our country has not yet become number 1 in the world.”
August 20, 2022: AAP leader Manoj Nagpal resigns from the party, and accuses it of corruption. “AAP today has become a corrupt party. AAP’s excise policy boosted the youngsters to consume more alcohol and furthered their addiction”, he said.
To day i resign from aap paarty @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia ji please accept and oblige pic.twitter.com/cbm5Z96FfX
— Manoj Nagpal (@ManojNagpalInd) August 20, 2022
August 21, 2022: Manish Sisodia claims that a Look Out circular (LoC) has been issued, CBI denies the allegation.
आपकी सारी रेड फैल हो गयी, कुछ नहीं मिला, एक पैसे की हेरा फेरी नहीं मिली, अब आपने लुक आउट नोटिस जारी किया है कि मनीष सिसोदिया मिल नहीं रहा। ये क्या नौटंकी है मोदी जी?
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 21, 2022
मैं खुलेआम दिल्ली में घूम रहा हूँ, बताइए कहाँ आना है? आपको मैं मिल नहीं रहा?
August 22, 2022: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister cries foul, alleges that the BJP asked him to abandon Aam Aadmi Party in exchange for dismissing all cases. Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, declared that Sisodia should be felicitated with the Bharat Ratna.
मेरे पास भाजपा का संदेश आया है- “आप” तोड़कर भाजपा में आ जाओ, सारे CBI ED के केस बंद करवा देंगे
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 22, 2022
मेरा भाजपा को जवाब- मैं महाराणा प्रताप का वंशज हूँ, राजपूत हूँ। सर कटा लूँगा लेकिन भ्रष्टाचारियो-षड्यंत्रकारियोंके सामने झुकूँगा नहीं। मेरे ख़िलाफ़ सारे केस झूठे हैं।जो करना है कर लो
Reportedly, Manish Sisodia waived off ₹144.36 crores on the license fee, to be paid by the private liquor vendors, under the garb of the coronavirus pandemic. He also caused loss to the Excise Department and benefitted liquor licensees by waiving the import pass fee of ₹50 per beer case.
All these changes were made without the final approval of the Lieutenant Governor and thus considered illegal under the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010 and Transaction of Business Rules of 1993. The CBI had therefore registered a case against Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister.
