In a supplemental chargesheet issued in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) accused Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. His name appears in several statements in the supplemental chargesheet submitted by the ED in the spirits fraud case.
Notably, the chargesheet already names two more AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain.
According to the chargesheet, AAP politician and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's PA C Arvind informed the ED about a meeting at Manish Sisodia's apartment attended by Raghav Chadha.
According to the statement, a meeting was held at the Deputy CM Manish Sisodia's residence, which was attended by Raghav Chadha, ACS Finance of Punjab Govt, Excise Commissioner Varun Roojam, FCT, and officers from Punjab Excise. Vijay Nair was also present at the meeting.
The ED has made serious allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his erstwhile deputy Manish Sisodia.
According to the supplemental chargesheet, the new spirits policy was Kejriwal's idea, and he and Sisodia gave immunity to Vijay Nair so he could engage in criminal actions while developing and executing the policy.
Vijay Nair was the first culprit in the case to be apprehended.
On April 28, a Delhi Court denied bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in an ED case involving the Delhi Liquor Scam.
The Court stated that the individual in question was not only the mastermind behind the criminal conspiracy mentioned above, but was also responsible for devising the clause that mandated a 12% profit margin for wholesalers, as well as increasing the eligibility criteria for wholesalers from Rs. 100 crores to Rs. 500 crores.
The ED claims in the supplementary chargesheet that Nair received Rs 100 crore in kickbacks from South Group, whose key members include Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Raghav Magunta, Sarath Reddy, and K. Kavitha.
The spirits regulation was proposed in September 2020, but it took effect in November 2021. It altered the way alcohol was sold in Delhi, bringing in private companies and signalling the end of government-owned spirits dealers.
Despite the Excise Policy 2021-2022 being implemented with the aim of putting an end to black marketing and the liquor mafia, the Delhi government faced swift criticism over allegations of corruption.
Naresh Kumar, the Chief Secretary of Delhi, discovered anomalies and procedural flaws in the new liquor policy. On the recommendation of Naresh Kumar, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI investigation.
During the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022, it was discovered that Manish Sisodia had waived off license fees amounting to ₹144.36 crores for private liquor vendors under the guise of pandemic relief.
He had also waived the import pass fee of ₹50 per beer case, which resulted in a loss for the Delhi government and benefited the liquor licensees.
As a result of these irregularities, the Delhi government withdrew the new excise policy in July 2022. Manish Sisodia and several others were subsequently named in an FIR by the CBI.
