ED questions AAP leader in Delhi liquor policy case
NEW DELHI: Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Kailash Gahlot on Saturday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), where he was questioned for five hours in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy for the capital, officials said.
Gahlot, who spoke to reporters outside the ED headquarters in New Delhi said, “They asked me questions about the excise policy. I gave them the answers to the best of my knowledge.”
Gahlot (49), an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Najafgarh, is the minister for transport, home and law in the Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been arrested in the case by the federal agency.
The transport and revenue minister of the Delhi government said he was not confronted or questioned along with Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal. “I was questioned alone. They did not question me in front of any other person. I was a part of the Group of Ministers (Those who drafted the now scrapped liquor policy) but I cannot reveal what the ED’s questions were,” he said.
The minister was seen entering the ED office in central Delhi around 11:30 am.
People familiar with the development said Gahlot had been asked to appear for questioning in the case and getting his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED did not share details on Gahlot’s questioning.
He was expected to be questioned with regard to the formulation of the policy as he was part of the Group of Ministers (GoM), along with former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and former urban development minister Satyendar Jain, on the prep
aration and implementation of the new liquor scheme for 2021-22.
The ED has alleged that the excise policy was leaked to the “South Group” liquor lobby that included Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha. This group is alleged to have given Rs 100-crore kickbacks to the AAP and its leaders, according to the agency.
The ED has also alleged in its chargesheet that Gahlot handled a single SIM number but his IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) was changed thrice.
The agency has mentioned Gahlot’s name in its chargesheet and in the context of Vijay Nair, the AAP communications in-charge arrested earlier in the case, saying Nair lived in the government bungalow allotted to Gahlot, who “ironically” lives in Najafgarh in southwest Delhi.
Describing this practice of allowing the use of a government residence to someone else by a public servant as a “criminal breach of trust”, the ED had said it had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take action in the matter.
The excise case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.