India's federal economic intelligence agency, the Enforcement Directorate, on Wednesday conducted raids at the Delhi residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) parliamentarian Sanjay Singh in connection with the now-scrapped liquor policy.
Apart from Singh’s residence, the ED also raided premises of some other people linked to the case.
The raids came a day after a court allowed two who had been accused in the case to turn state's evidence.
The ED is examining a money-laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
As the raids took place, political parties battled it out with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that the Aam Aadmi Party's initials (AAP) actually stand for "Aur Adhik Paap" (more sin). For its part, the AAP said that the raids formed a political vendetta.
While talking to the media, the health minister in the AAP-led Delhi government, Saurabh Bharadwaj, said: “This is such a fictitious scam which has been investigated for the past 15 months... the ED and [Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)] have raided at least 1,000 places but not a single penny has been recovered from anywhere...They will not get anything at the residence of Sanjay Singh either... the BJP is losing the plot and this is the truth”
Although the AAP’s national spokeswoman Reena Gupta said that Singh's residence was being raided because he often raised questions about Modi and Adani. “Nothing was found earlier, nothing will be found today. Raids were conducted yesterday at the residence of some journalists and today raids are conducted at the residence of Sanjay Singh,” she added.
Meanwhile, BJP's national spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla accused the AAP of playing victim and being melodramatic about Singh.
Poonawalla asked several questions from AAP and demanded the resignation of AAP national convenor and Delhi State Chief Arvind Kejriwal.
The BJP's Delhi unit chief, Virendraa Sachdeva, said that the AAP has been exposed. “The ED conducted raids in connection with the excise policy case. Arvind Kejriwal and his staunch honest leaders are being exposed now. We said from the first day that they had looted the people of Delhi. Sanjay Singh's name was already there in the chargesheet,” Sachdeva said.
However, several politicians from other opposition parties who have come together in the newly formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc have extended their support to Singh.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) parliamentarian Manoj Jha said that raids are sad but not surprising. “Now this will continue until the election. PM Modi and Amit Shah have made the formal announcement for the 2024 elections. Yesterday, NewsClick and all its journalists were raided; today the target is Sanjay Singh.”
Condemning the raids, Congress politician Pramod Tiwari said that BJP government is adopting a dictatorial attitude and creating an atmosphere of coercion, repression, fear and terror against leaders from the INDIA alliance.
The Controversial Liquor Policy
The liquor policy was introduced by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government in November 2021. Under the policy, it was suggested that 800 new liquor shops were to be opened. However, the Delhi government rolled back the policy after the opposition alleged that rules were violated while introducing the policy.
The investigation into the alleged scam started after the federal government representative and Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena ordered a probe citing financial irregularities in how it was formed and carried out.
The BJP has accused AAP, Kejriwal and former Deputy State Chief Manish Sisodia of giving undue benefits to liquor vend licensees whereas AAP has denied the allegations outrightly.
However, the CBI arrested Sisodia on 23 March this year and has been in prison since then.