Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on Friday Manish Sisodia Heard the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charge sheet case against the now defunct New Excise Policy 2022 scam money laundering case. The central probe agency told the court that the former Delhi deputy CM was the mastermind behind the report of the Group of Ministers (GoM), which paved the way for cartelization in the liquor trade.
The CBI claimed that Sisodia finalized the GoM report in his office on March 20, 2021, disregarding the suggestions of the expert committee. “From the image copy of the hard disk of the office Apple computer of accused Manish Sisodia, the soft copy of the final draft of the GOM report is in the word file ‘Final Draft GOM Report 22.3.2021 at 3:00 PM’. retrieved,” the CBI said.
The central probe agency is likely to reveal more details about Sisodia’s role in the Delhi liquor scam. A day earlier, Sisodia had allegedly confessed to destroying two mobile phones, which was sought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed its first chargesheet against Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy case. People with knowledge of the case said that he was described as the “prime accused” in the charge sheet. This is the fifth charge sheet of the ED in the case.
The ED, in its third supplementary chargesheet, had earlier alleged that some senior AAP leaders and Telangana Chief Minister KCR’s daughter were involved in the liquor policy case. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 and later by the ED on March 9 from Tihar Jail and is currently in judicial custody. Several others were also arrested in the case.
While the CBI filed a charge sheet against Sisodia for corruption and criminal conspiracy, the ED filed a charge sheet against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). accused it of “utilizing” a part of the Rs 100 crore kickback allegedly received from the group’s liquor lobby. Goa assembly election campaign in 2022.