Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh named deliberately in ED's charge sheet, claims AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party Wednesday alleged the mention of its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh's name in the Delhi excise policy case charge sheet by ED was a "deliberate attempt" to defame the party and its leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Earlier in the day, the party said Singh has written to the Union finance ministry secretary seeking sanction to prosecute Enforcement Department (ED) Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Assistant Director Jogender Singh in connection with allegations made against him in the excise policy case.

Singh's letter came after the ED on April 20 filed an application in a court seeking to correct a "typographical/clerical" error related to his name in the charge sheet. ED sources said Singh's name appears four times in the charge sheet out of which one reference is wrong as his name was typed "inadvertently" in place of Rahul Singh's.

Rahul Singh was Delhi's excise commissioner when the policy and formulated.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Cabinet minister and AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged the CBI and ED have become "synonyms for harassment, fear, torture, threatening and defaming someone".

"AAP MP Sanjay Singh had announced that he will file a criminal defamation case against two ED officials because they put his name in the charge sheet and later revealed to media that even Sanjay Singh is involved in this concocted scam," he said.

Bharadwaj accused the ED of scaring the opposition parties and claimed that they had "apologised to Sanjay Singh".

"This is the first time that the ED director had to apologise to someone. In a way, Centre had to apologise to Sanjay Singh and the AAP," he said.

Seeking to know how the "mistake" could happen, he opined that it was a "misfire".

"They said the name was mentioned by mistake. How can this happen? A BJP MP's name didn't come by mistake. It was inserted at the behest of the PMO. This whole alleged scam is fake and the entire case is false."  Bharadwaj alleged that "they (Central probe agencies) have not been able to prove corruption worth even a single penny. The whole matter is aimed at defaming Arvind Kejriwal and his government. It is a conspiracy by the Centre. They want to defame the AAP by hook or crook." Alleging that ED has been tasked with a hit job, the AAP spokesperson claimed that the Centre has been exposed.

"Why didn't they put the name of BJP MPs Parvesh Verma or Manoj Tiwari by mistake? This means that the names of Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, and Raghav Chadha are in their mind. You are indulging in a conspiracy," he alleged and described it as "shameful".  ED sources said the probe agency has moved a petition before the designated special PMLA court on April 20 to rectify the anomaly in the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) after the "typographical/clerical" came to notice.

An ED counsel wrote to Sanjay Singh's lawyer on April 29 saying that "instead of Rahul Singh, Sanjay Singh was inadvertently mentioned at only one reference".  "The said application for correction is much prior to the date of the present notice (Sanjay Singh's notice to the ED on April 22), which demonstrates the bona fide of the agency," the ED counsel said.  AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said he will file defamation cases against media outlets who "falsely reported" that his name was in the ED chargesheet in the excise policy case and haven't retracted it.

"I am pleased to note that many media groups chose to uphold the basic tenets of their profession and refrained from publishing falsehoods about my name appearing in an ED chargesheet. Many of those who reported it yesterday have now retracted it.

"Against those who haven't, I'm filing defamation cases before appropriate jurisdictions, including the State of Punjab. Media is the fourth pillar of democracy, and it must stand uneroded," Chadha said in a series of tweets.

In a supplementary charge sheet filed in a money-laundering case linked to the excise policy, the ED has accused the AAP of using a part of the Rs 100 crore kickbacks allegedly received from the "south group" liquor lobby to meet its expenditure for the Goa Assembly poll campaign in 2022. The charge sheet carried the name of Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP, as part of a statement of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's Secretary C Arvind. The Rajya Sabha MP was not named as an accused in it.

Chadha on Tuesday said media reports claiming that he has been named as an accused in a charge sheet filed by the ED in a Delhi Excise policy-linked case were "factually wrong" and appear to be part of a "propaganda" to harm his reputation and credibility.

"I wish to clarify that I have not been named as an accused or as a suspect, or even as a witness, in any of the complaints filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the ongoing investigation," he had said.