The Enforcement Directorate (ED) accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) party in its eighth chargesheet on Friday, May 17. AAP, once named an “accused” in the chargesheet, will be the first political party in India to be charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The probe agency told the Supreme Court that it has discovered chats between AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and hawala operators regarding the alleged proceeds of crime in the excise policy case. The agency claims the chats were recovered from the devices of hawala operators after Kejriwal refused to share his devices' passwords.
The development followed two days after the probe agency had informed the Delhi High Court of its intention to designate AAP an accused in the case. Several of AAP’s top leaders, including its national convenor Kejriwal, senior leader Manish Sisodia and MP Sanjay Singh have been arrested in the case by the probe agencies. The probe agency claimed that the bribe was used by the AAP in the Goa assembly poll campaign in 2022.
Kejriwal and Singh are currently out on conditional bails. The probe agency has alleged Kejriwal to be the “kingpin” of the excise “scam,” in which he demanded Rs 100 crore bribe from certain businessmen in exchange of tweaking the excise policy framework in their favour.