ED Conducts Raids in Manish Sisodia-Linked Liquor Scam Case
Since Sisodia and his accomplices in AAP are not answering the questions and confusing the whole liquor scam case with their false rhetoric, the CBI should immediately arrest and interrogate Sisodia and others so that people could know the truth.
By Rakesh Raman
After the August 19 raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the residence of Delhi politician Manish Sisodia, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today (October 7) conducted fresh raids at about 35 locations in Delhi, Punjab, and Hyderabad in the alleged liquor scam case.
According to an NDTV report, the ED – which investigates serious financial crime cases – is conducting searches at around 35 premises linked to liquor companies, distributors, and supply chain networks.
Sisodia – who is a deputy chief minister (CM) under Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and member of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – is facing serious allegations of corruption, criminal conspiracy, and falsification of government accounts, while the CBI has filed an FIR in which Sisodia’s name is at the top of a list of 15 accused in this case.
Since the AAP is also running the Punjab Government, Kejriwal and Sisodia are trying to implement the dubious Delhi liquor policy in Punjab also.
Last month (September 2022), the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sukhbir Singh Badal had urged the Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to hold a probe into the alleged Rs. 500-crore liquor policy scam committed by the AAP Government in the state.
In July, the Lt. Governor (LG) Vinai Saxena – who is the administrative head of Delhi – had asked the CBI to probe Sisodia’s surreptitious links with the liquor mafia that led to massive corruption in the sale of liquor shop licences in the city.
An August 22 article in The New Indian Express details different aspects of the case along with the names of the accused who allegedly colluded with Sisodia to run the criminal liquor network involved in an estimated corruption of hundreds of crores of rupees.
Now, instead of answering the media questions related to Delhi liquor scam in which Sisodia is allegedly involved, the AAP members are unsuccessfully trying to divert the case to unrelated issues such as Delhi school education that Sisodia handles.
In their media interactions on Sisodia’s liquor scam case, the AAP spokespersons had been unnecessarily flaunting a New York Times (NYT) school education article which looks like an advertorial (advertisement or paid article) arranged by AAP’s publicity department.
It is alleged that the NYT staffer Karan Deep Singh – who wrote the dubious article to praise Sisodia and AAP – has conflict of interest, as he enjoys benefits offered by Kejriwal’s AAP government.
An attempt to take Karan Deep Singh’s response on the said article failed, as he did not reply to my email. [ You can click here to read my email sent to Karan Deep Singh / NYT on August 19, 2022. ]
It is being increasingly observed that Kejriwal is splurging huge public money on media advertisements to gain false publicity for himself and his party. The Right to Information (RTI) replies by the Directorate of Information and Publicity reveal that the Delhi Government’s spending on advertisements increased by a whopping 4,273% over 10 financial years ending with 2021-2022, particularly under Kejriwal’s government.
As a result, most corrupt media outlets do not question AAP’s wrongdoings and the TV anchors particularly do not interject when AAP leaders divert the issues or tell flagrant lies in TV shows to evade crucial questions.
While the Kejriwal government is controlling the traditional media companies with the power of public money, it is being observed that there are attempts to suppress or remove information related to AAP’s corruption cases from new-media sites such as Wikipedia which is a free online encyclopedia.
While AAP politicians are trying to build a false school education narrative to cover up Sisodia’s alleged involvement in liquor corruption scandal, they are using Mohalla Clinics story to skirt questions related to the financial crimes of Satyendar Jain, another minister in the Kejriwal government.
Jain – who is a minister without portfolio in the Kejriwal government – was sent to jail on June 13, as the ED is questioning him in a massive money laundering case.
With the help of corrupt journalists, Kejriwal and other AAP leaders are spreading falsehood about Delhi school education which has gone from bad to worse and defunct Mohalla Clinics which are not providing healthcare to people.
Since Sisodia and his accomplices in AAP are not answering the questions and confusing the whole liquor scam case with their false rhetoric, the CBI should immediately arrest and interrogate Sisodia and others so that people could know the truth.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
He has also launched the “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” editorial section to cover the news, events, and other developments related to the 2024 election.
