New Delhi, 19th August 2022: The CBI, which is probing the alleged scam in the excise policy in Delhi, has registered an FIR against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, among 14 others. Raids have been conducted to investigate the same case.

Apart from Sisodia, those who have been accused include excise officials, officials of liquor companies, dealers, unidentified public servants and others.

As part of the investigation of the same case, the CBI has raided 21 locations in seven states, including Sisodia’s residence. On Friday, the CBI raided the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia regarding the Delhi Excise Policy. Documents were searched at 21 locations in seven states of the country, including Delhi.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the Excise Policy 2021-22. He has also suspended 11 excise officials in this case. Sisodia himself had also demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that the Narendra Modi government is “scared” of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “rising popularity and his model of governance” after the raid on AAP’s second biggest leader boiled over. AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha said, ‘’The CBI will find nothing but a ‘pencil and geometry box’ at Sisodia’s house. Sisodia is also the Education Minister of Delhi.” He alleged that the BJP is planning to send the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi to jail. When the CBI team reached Sisodia’s residence in the morning, they took to Twitter and said that the conspiracies would neither break him nor hinder his resolve to work for good education.

BJP’s counterattack 

On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opened a front against Sisodia. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said about Sisodia that Delhi’s ‘Excise’ minister has become ‘Excuse’ (excuse-maker) minister. Sisodia also holds the Excise Department of Delhi. The Delhi unit of the BJP, on Friday, accused the Delhi government of being involved in a “liquor scam” worth hundreds of crores. BJP MP from West Delhi Parvesh Verma accused Sisodia of corruption, saying that two “middlemen” who collected cash from liquor licenses have fled the country.