Ex-LG Anil Baijal approved liquor policy, should be probed too: Delhi minister

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai on Monday called for interrogation of former Delhi L-G Anil Baijal saying he was the one who approved the now-scrapped excise policy that led to the arrest of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

As AAP leaders and workers held protests in various states against Sisodia’s arrest in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi liquor excise policy, Rai alleged that the CBI’s action was a conspiracy to trap the Delhi deputy chief minister.

“It was the LG (Anil Baijal) who had put the final stamp on the excise policy papers. So why is he not being questioned? If agencies are transparent, they should have questioned the LG too. It is clear that a conspiracy has been hatched to trap Manish Sisodia,” PTI quoted Rai as saying.

Rai, who holds the environment and general administration portfolio in the AAP-led Delhi government, claimed the CBI could find nothing against Sisodia despite searching all locations.

“The court has remanded Manish Sisodia to five-day CBI custody but they won’t be able to find anything. Had Adani not been a friend of the prime minister, he would also have been questioned by the CBI and ED,” the Delhi minister alleged.

“If someone is trying to scare us with such raids, we are not going to stop. We will keep fighting,” he added.

A special court sent Sisodia to five days of CBI custody in the Delhi liquor excise policy case, accepting the federal agency’s request to question the AAP leader over allegations of corruption that his party says are fabricated. The agency contended that Sisodia was not cooperating and that it had “incriminating evidence” with which he needs to be confronted.

Seeking to rebut the CBI stand, the defence lawyers argued that not responding with an answer the agency wants cannot be construed as lack of cooperation, . They also said the policy was approved by the then L-G, who did not object to tweaks that are now part of the allegations.