"My husband will reveal truth in so-called liquor scam in court": Arvind Kejriwal's wife

NEW DELHI: The wife of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sunita on Wednesday said that her husband, who is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged excise scam, will reveal the truth regarding the case in court on March 28. Kejriwal will be produced before the court on Thursday at the end of his ED custody in Delhi excise policy money laundering case.

In a video message, Sunita Kejriwal hit out at the Centre and central probe agency, saying that the ED could not find a single penny in its more than 250 raids conducted in the "so-called liquor scam". "In the so-called liquor scam, ED has conducted more than 250 raids. They are searching for the money of this so-called scam. They have found nothing yet. Arvind Kejriwal has said that he will reveal everything in court on March 28. He will reveal where the money of the liquor scam is. He will also provide proof..." she said.

Sunita has met the Delhi CM on Tuesday evening at the ED office. "I met Arvind Kejriwal in jail yesterday, he has diabetes and sugar level is not under control. However, his determination is strong. Two days ago, he directed Delhi Minister Atishi to resolve the water and sewer-related issues. What wrong did he do? The Centre has filed a case against Arvind Kejriwal even for this. Do they want to finish Delhi?" she added.

The Aam Aadmi Party's National Convenor was arrested on March 21 for alleged misdoings in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy case under an ongoing money laundering probe by the ED. He is in ED custody till March 28. The case relates to alleged irregularities and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi excise policy in 2022.In its initial prosecution complaint filed in November 2021, the ED stated that the policy was intentionally designed with loopholes, facilitating the formation of cartels clandestinely to favor AAP leaders.

Additionally, the ED accused AAP leaders of receiving kickbacks from a group of individuals referred to as the "South Group." The case originated from a report presented by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, highlighting purported procedural deficiencies in the development of the policy.

The report said "arbitrary and unilateral decisions" taken by Sisodia in his capacity as Excise Minister had resulted in "financial losses to the exchequer" estimated at more than Rs 580 crore.This report was referred to the CBI, and led to Sisodia's arrest. While Kejriwal was not named in the FIRs registered by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi excise policy case, his name first found a mention in the ED's chargesheet, wherein the agency claimed that he allegedly spoke to one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, in a video call and asked him to continue working with co-accused and AAP communications-in-charge Vijay Nair.