AAP to Be Made Accused in Liquorgate Case, ED Tells Delhi HC

New Delhi: In a major development in the Delhi Excise Policy Scam case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that it will also name the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an accused in the liquorgate under Section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in what will seemingly be a major setback for the party led by Arvind Kejriwal who has already been declared a Kingpin by the federal probe agency in the alleged scam.

Stating that the AAP will be made an accused in the money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, the ED also informed the court that several accused in the matter were attempting to delay trial in the case. 

ED Opposes Former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s Bail Plea

The ED made the submissions while opposing the bail plea of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the money laundering case linked to the liquorgate.

"AAP is going to be made a co-accused in the next prosecution complaint (charge sheet) to be filed in the case," news agency PTI quoted the ED's counsel as contending before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who is hearing arguments on Sisodia's bail plea.

While seeking bail for him, Sisodia's counsel submitted that the ED and the CBI are still arresting people in the money laundering and corruption case and there is no question of early conclusion of the trial.

The significant development comes days after Kejriwal was released from jail, following the Supreme Court order granting him an interim bail till June 1.

Kejriwal was granted bail to enable him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. The Delhi CM was, however, barred from visiting his office or the Delhi secretariat, and signing official files unless absolutely necessary.

SC Dismisses Plea Seeking Removal of Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi CM

Notably, the development also comes just a day after the top court dismissed a plea seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as the Delhi chief minister, holding that the petitioner had no legal right to seek his ouster.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta had on Monday said resignation in such circumstances is a matter of propriety but there is no legal right to seek removal of Kejriwal as the chief minister following his arrest.

"What is the legal right? On propriety you may certainly have something to say, but there is no legal right. It's up to the LG (Lieutenant Governor) to take action if he wants to. We are not inclined to entertain this (petition)," the bench told petitioner Kant Bhati's counsel.

The bench, while dismissing the appeal challenging the April 10 order of the Delhi High Court had said, "When the matter (Kejriwal's petition against arrest) was being heard, we had posed the same question to them. Ultimately, it is a matter of propriety and there is no legal right." It pointed out that several petitions on the issue have been dismissed by the high court.

On April 10, the high court had expressed its displeasure over repeated filing of petitions seeking Kejriwal's removal.

The court said once it had dealt with the issue and opined that it fell within the executive domain, there should not be any "repeat litigation" as it was not a "James Bond movie that will have sequels".

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.  

(With inputs from PTI)