Delhi HC to hear on Monday pleas of Kejriwal, Sisodia challenging trial proceedings in liquor scam

New Delhi, May 4 The Delhi High Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea filed by former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against the trial court’s decision taking cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) prosecution complaint in the alleged liquor policy scam.

As per the causelist published on the website of the Delhi HC, a single-judge Bench of Justice Ravinder Dudeja will take Kejriwal’s plea for hearing on May 5, along with a similar petition filed by senior AAP leader and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Both Kejriwal and Sisodia have filed distinct petitions before the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on trial proceedings on the ground that the trial court had taken cognisance of the alleged offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) without any prior sanction having been obtained by the ED for prosecution.

With the Union Home Ministry granting sanction to the ED to prosecute Kejriwal and Sisodia in the alleged liquor scam, the pending petitions would likely turn infructuous, and the AAP leaders may not be left with many options except to institute fresh proceedings against the grant of sanction.

During a hearing, when sanction was awaiting approval of the competent authority, the ED had argued before the Delhi HC that since the alleged offence of money laundering did not fall within the purview of "discharge of their official duties", the former CM and Dy CM, could be prosecuted without the requirement of sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

In December last year, Kejriwal’s lawyer had opposed the adjournment sought on the ED's behalf due to the non-availability of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, urging for an early date in view of the Delhi Assembly elections. Thereafter, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri-led Bench listed the matter for hearing on January 30, but Kejriwal's plea was adjourned on several occasions due to paucity of time, as per the order sheet uploaded on the website of the Delhi High Court.

As per the Central agencies, Kejriwal, along with other AAP leaders, had accepted bribes from the "South Group", a cartel allegedly controlling liquor sales and benefiting from the Delhi government's 2021-22 excise policy. Kejriwal and his ministers allegedly swindled over Rs 2,026 crore as the liquor excise policy lacked transparency and thrived on illegal decision-making to benefit some favoured licensees, said a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report whose excerpts came into public domain recently.

Reportedly, the government auditor’s report said the exchequer lost around Rs 890 crore as the AAP government did not re-tender the surrendered retail liquor licences.

The CAG report raised serious questions on the AAP government’s policy-making and implementation, citing several instances of irregularities like lack of transparency in pricing, violation in the issue and renewal of licences, non-penalisation of violators, non-seeking of approval from L-G, Cabinet or the Assembly. The government lost an additional Rs 941 crore due to the exemptions that had to be given to the zonal licensees, the report said. The Group of Ministers, headed by Sisodia, allegedly did not act on the recommendation of the expert panel and even allowed disqualified entities to bid for licences.

While out on bail, the former CM Kejriwal has denied the allegations, accusing the BJP of weaponising central agencies to target political opponents.

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