Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha has denied being named in a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22 case. The AAP leader has not been named as an accused in the case. His name finds mention in the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate as part of a statement given by a former secretary to Manish Sisodia.
The supplementary chargesheet, which the court took cognisance of on Monday, names Chadha as part of a statement given to the ED by Sisodia’s former secretary C Aravind on December 23, 2022. Aravind told the ED in his statement that he was present in a meeting at the house of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with some officials from Punjab.
The CBI statement read, “At Dy CM’s residence there was a meeting of Raghav Chaddha, ACS Finance of Punjab Govt, Excise Commissioner, Sh Varun Roojam, FCT and officers from Punjab Excise where Vijay Nair was also present.”
This is the only reference to him in the chargesheet, which the court took cognisance of on Monday.
The development comes days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named Manish Sisodia as an accused for the first time in its supplementary chargesheet filed before a CBI court in Delhi.
Following the media reports, Chadha issued a statement saying, “I have not been named as an accused or even a suspect in any of the complaints filed by the Enforcement Directorate. There are no allegations whatsoever against me in the said complaints. It appears that in the complaint my name is mentioned as an attendee to some meeting, though the basis of making such an allegation is not clear.”
“I vehemently and unequivocally deny commission of any alleged offence in any manner, in relation to the said meeting or otherwise,” he added.