Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party invited him to join their party and said that it "will close all CBI, ED cases".
In his reply, Sisodia tweeted, "I am a Rajput, a descendant of Maharana Pratap. I will cut off my head but will not bow down in front of the corrupt, conspirators. All the cases against me are false. Do whatever you want to do."
On August 19, the Central Bureau of Investigation raided the residence of Sisodia and 30 other locations in Delhi-NCR and seven other states in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of Excise Policy 2021-22. Sisodia had said the agency seized his computer and mobile phone after several hours of search and also took away some files. He asserted that he was not involved in any wrongdoing and is not scared of the CBI.
Sisodia alleged that the Centre was misusing the agency to stop the Arvind Kejriwal government from "doing good work" in Delhi. He said that CBI officials behaved well during the raid.
According to the CBI, the report had shown prima facie violations, including "deliberate and gross procedural lapses", to provide post-tender "undue benefits to liquor licensees" through the policy.
The excise department gave a waiver of Rs 144.36 crore to the licensees on the tendered licence fee on the excuse of COVID-19, sources claimed.
They added that it also refunded the earnest money of Rs 30 crore to the lowest bidder for the licence of the airport zone when it failed to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from airport authorities.
The Excise Policy 2021-22, formulated on the basis of an expert committee report, was implemented from November 17 last year and retail licences were issued under it to private bidders for 849 vends across the city, divided into 32 zones. However, under the policy, many liquor stores failed to open for being located in non-conforming areas of the city. Several such vends were sealed by municipal corporations for violations of the Master Plan.
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