Manish Sisodia
Delhi liquor policy case: Manish Sisodia seeks more time to appear before CBI for questioning
New Delhi/IBNS: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Sunday requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to provide him with a week's time to appear for questioning in the liquor policy case, in which he faces corruption allegations.
Sisodia, who is also Delhi's Finance Minister, told reporters that he needs at least a week before he can go to the CBI's office as he has been preparing the national capital's Budget.
He said he will "fully cooperate" with the central agency.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Delhi unit termed Sisodia's request an "excuse" and said his "body language" indicates that he is scared.
"Budget is an excuse, the real objective is to run. He was claiming till yesterday that there is no scam, but today his body language indicates that he is scared. Scared of tough questions?" Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said in a statement.
Sisodia is scheduled to visit the CBI headquarters at south Delhi's Lodhi Road around 11 am.
"CBI has called me again tomorrow (Sunday). They have unleashed the full power of CBI, ED (Enforcement Directorate) against me, raided my house, searched my bank locker, and yet found nothing against me," he tweeted on Saturday.
सीबीआई ने कल फिर बुलाया है. मेरे ख़िलाफ़ इन्होंने CBI, ED की पूरी ताक़त लगा रखी है, घर पर रेड, बैंक लॉकर तलाशी, कहीं मेरे ख़िलाफ़ कुछ नहीं मिला
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) February 18, 2023
मैंने दिल्ली के बच्चों के लिए अच्छी शिक्षा का इंतज़ाम किया है। ये उसे रोकना चाहते हैं।
मैंने जाँच में हमेशा सहयोग किया है और करूँगा.
Sisodia and others face corruption charges over the new liquor sale policy in the national capital.
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had ordered the CBI probe last year.
Following this, the Delhi government reverted to the old liquor policy and blamed the Lieutenant Governor for the loss of revenue worth crores of rupees that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government claimed would have come if the new policy had continued.
The probe agency is investigating the Delhi Excise Policy which has handed over liquor shop licences to private players.
It had earlier raided Sisodia's residence for over 12 hours and 20 other locations across seven states.
The CBI alleges that liquor companies and middlemen were "actively involved in irregularities in the framing and implementation" of the excise policy.
The agency also claims "close associates of Sisodia - Amit Arora, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey - collected "commission" from liquor licensees and delivered them to "the accused public servants".
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