AAP slams ED over fresh chargesheet against party, Kejriwal: ‘BJP’s political wing’
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday hit out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after it filed a fresh charge sheet against the party and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case, calling the probe agency the “political wing of the BJP”. According to the Kejriwal-led party, the “intention” behind the excise policy case probe is to “frame AAP”.
“The ED is functioning like a political wing and mouthpiece of the BJP. Its intention from the very beginning of this fake investigation was to frame the AAP, arrest all its top leaders and crush the party. The ED’s charge-sheet framing AAP and CM Arvind Kejriwal is part of this grand political conspiracy,” the party said in a statement, reported PTI.
AAP further alleged that all of Kejriwal’s and the party’s properties and bank accounts would be seized following the chargesheet, adding that the probe agency would cause “massive harassment and injustice.”
“This is the first case in the ED’s history where after over two years of investigation, after over 500 raids and after filing eight chargesheets, not a single rupee has been recovered from any AAP leaders…The entire case of the ED is built on statements of accused-turned-approvers, all of whom have links with the BJP. Whenever courts questioned the ED on the veracity of these statements, the ED had no answers,” the AAP alleged.
On Friday, the probe agency filed a fresh chargesheet against Kejriwal and the AAP under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) regarding the alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22. This is the first time a political party has been named an accused in a chargesheet.
What does the ED’s chargesheet say?
The ED, in its chargesheet, alleged that the national convenor of AAP, Arvind Kejriwal, was the “kingpin” and the key conspirator in the excise policy scam wherein ₹100 crore were paid to his party in bribes by the so-called ‘South Group’ – which benefited from changes made in the 2021-22 policy. It also claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in formulating the excise policy and demanded kickbacks from the South Group in exchange for awarding them favours.
The nearly 200-page document also alleged that the Delhi CM was involved in using ₹45 crore of the proceeds of crime in AAP’s Goa election campaign.
The fresh charge sheet – the eighth in the case – comes nearly two months after the federal agency arrested Kejriwal. The CM is currently out of jail on interim bail to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. The Supreme Court, in its order, has asked Kejriwal to surrender on June2, a day after the general election polls conclude and two days before the results are to be declared.