In a big jolt to jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, his close aide Dinesh Arora and YSRCP MP Magunta Reddy’s son Raghav Manguta on Tuesday turned approver in the money laundering case pertaining to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court allowed the application filed by them seeking permission to turn approver in the case.
Arora, who was arrested in the money laundering case in July, had also turned approver in the CBI case wherein his statements had played a crucial role in the arrest of former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.
It has been alleged by the ED and the CBI that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi has charge strongly refuted the charge. The excise policy was scrapped after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the corruption allegation, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Sisodia, the former Delhi deputy chief minister and excise minister, was first arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the scam. He resigned from the Delhi Cabinet on February 28.
The Enforcement Directorate later arrested the AAP leader on March 9 from Tihar Jail where he is currently lodged in judicial custody. In its nearly 270-page supplementary charge sheet which has annexures running into 2,000 pages, the ED has called Sisodia a “key conspirator” in the case.
The ED had also attached assets of Manish Sisodia, his wife Seema Sisodia, and others in connection with the money laundering case. The attachment includes assets worth RS 81.5 lakh that belonged to Sisodia and his wife. This includes two flats– one worth Rs 5 lakh (in Sisodia’s name) and another Rs 65 lakh (in the name of his wife who is not an accused)– along with Rs 11.49 lakh in deposits.
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