Delhi excise policy case: CBI summons Arvind Kejriwal on April 16; meeting held at his house under lens

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which has summoned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday as part of its probe into suspected irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy (2021-22), is likely to verify from him if he had any knowledge of, or association with, a policy ingredient under the scanner – the escalation of the wholesale profit margin to 12 per cent, from 5 per cent.

Meeting at Kejriwal's house under lens

Probes by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money-laundering aspect of the case, have claimed that one of the arrested accused in the case, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, had allegedly held a meeting with his then secretary, for the handing over the Group of Ministers’ (GoM’s) draft report containing recommendations for the policy – including the one related to the fixing of the wholesale commission – allegedly at Kejriwal’s residence in March 2021, sources said.

“As revealed by the then secretary of Manish Sisodia, Sisodia had called him to the residence of Mr Arvind Kejriwal between March 15 and 19, 2021, and handed to him a document containing the draft GoM report, on the basis of which he got a document typed, dated March 19, 2021. This document contained the 12 per cent profit margin for the wholesale traders for the first time. All details related to the meeting are being probed,” an ED source said. “The document was retrieved from a computer from the office-cum-conference room of the arrestee,” the source said.

About the document containing the draft draft GoM report

The source said that a document, containing the draft GoM report (MS word file named ‘my note on GoM.docx’ that was last updated on March 15, 2021), was allegedly retrieved from Sisodia’s personal computer, which reflected that till that stage, the wholesale profit margin was recommended to be only at the rate of 5 per cent

“And it magically changed in the document dated March 19, 2021 found from another computer from his office conference room, without any inputs from the department concerned and without any GoM meeting having been convened in between,” the source said.

From the statements of various officials of the excise department and other material evidence, it was allegedly revealed that the GoM meetings were only a sham and there was no discussion or decision-making in those meetings. As per excise department officials who were interrogated by the ED, the department allegedly did not participate in the decision-making nor in the actual drafting/ typing of the GoM report, the sources claimed.   

Allegations in the excise policy case  

It was alleged that its formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy (2021-22) had led to a loss of Rs 2,873 crore to the exchequer. The CBI’s first information report of August 17, 2022, had alleged that public servants had recommended and taken decisions pertaining to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with “an intention to extend undue favours to the licensees post-tender”.

The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26. The ED subsequently arrested Sisodia on March 9, having initiated its probe on August 22, 2022.  The Aam Aadmi Party, Kejriwal and Sisodia have dismissed allegations of wrongdoing in the case.