The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a charge sheet against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged excise policy scam. The charge sheet also names Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an accused party.
The prosecution complaint has been submitted before a special court in New Delhi, seeking charges under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), PTI reports, citing sources.
Kejriwal, 55, who also serves as the national convenor of the AAP, was arrested by the federal agency from his official residence in New Delhi on March 21. He is currently out on interim bail till June 1.
This marks the eighth charge sheet filed by the ED in the case, which has seen the arrest of 18 people thus far. Recently, the agency also filed a similar complaint against BRS leader and former Telangana chief minister Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha and four others.
Kejriwal has been previously described by the ED as the “kingpin and key conspirator” of the Delhi excise “scam”, allegedly colluding with Delhi government ministers, AAP leaders, and others.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that there is direct evidence indicating Kejriwal’s stay in a seven-star hotel, with bills partly paid by an accused in the case. Raju alleged that Kejriwal played a significant role in formulating the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The excise case revolves around alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22. The Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the liquor policy, leading to the ED’s investigation under the PMLA.
The ED initiated its money laundering inquiry on August 22, 2022, following the registration of a CBI FIR on August 17, 2022, pertaining to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.