Delhi LG grants permission to ED to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case

Ahead of 2025 Delhi polls, trouble mounts for Arvind Kejriwal

Ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena has granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permission to prosecute AAP Chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy case.

On December 5, the ED sought permission to initiate prosecution against Kejriwal after months of investigation into the controversial Delhi government’s excise policy, which has been mired in allegations of corruption.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Friday granted the ED additional time to file its reply to the petition filed by Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. The petition challenges the trial court’s decision to accept the chargesheets in the Delhi Excise Liquor Policy case. The matter has been scheduled for hearing on February 5 before the bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri.

The Delhi High Court had earlier issued a notice on the plea filed by Kejriwal and Sisodia, who are challenging the trial court’s decision to take cognizance of the ED’s chargesheet against them in the alleged excise policy scam.

Both Kejriwal and Sisodia are currently out on bail in the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to the now-scrapped excise policy.

The ED alleges that the excise policy was deliberately designed with loopholes to benefit AAP leaders and foster cartel formations. The agency claims that AAP leaders received kickbacks from liquor businesses in exchange for preferential treatment, including discounts, license fee waivers, and relief during the COVID-19 disruptions.

The ED further alleged that the “scam” involved awarding wholesale liquor distribution rights to private entities with a fixed 12% margin in return for a 6% kickback. AAP leaders were also accused of influencing the outcome of elections in Punjab and Goa in early 2022.

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