Kickback of Rs 2 cr, criminal conspiracy: Sanjay Singh key link in Delhi liquor scam, claims ED

There is trouble mounting for the Aam Aadmi Party after its top leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was sent to Enforcement Directorate custody till October 10. The agency is likely to question him on his role in amassing alleged proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 2 crore generated from the liquor scam and other quid pro quo, benefiting certain entities, with the help of other senior party functionaries.

The ED made out a case for Singh’s questioning by sharing evidence of how proceeds of crime, at least to the tune of Rs 2 crore, generated from the liquor scam was knowingly received by him through accused-turned-approver Dinesh Arora. The ED told the court on Thursday that in 2020, Singh assured the accused to get favourable changes in the then excise policy from then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and when one of the entities wanted to increase the brand registration criterion, the ED alleged, a meeting was arranged where both Singh and Sisodia were present. The ED has also alleged that there was a quid pro quo, where Singh allegedly helped one of his associates get a stake in one of those companies.

Investigators are likely to question Singh about his links with Arora and others as it claims to have digital evidence of their meetings and associations, a charge denied by Singh. But ED told the court that Singh misled the investigators despite evidence showing they were in touch. ED sources said Arora is a close associate of Singh, who introduced him to Sisodia and another top party functionary. Singh is also likely to be questioned about the role of the south liquor lobby, already under ED’s scanner, which allegedly gave Rs 1 crore as party fund to AAP while another Rs 1 crore was purportedly election fund.

The Delhi excise policy 2021-22 case, being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, could well be the first case where the central agency is probing whether a political party benefited from the illegal gains, after the alleged money trail has drawn two senior leaders under the net.

Political parties are not corporate entities with account books, neither is the entire party liable in this case, but the money trail, according to ED, involves several accused who are connected with the AAP leadership, Singh’s case being one of them.

The ED has alleged illegal gains to numerous business entities, persons, groups, key government functionaries and a number of middlemen against kickbacks that were allegedly used by the AAP functionaries during elections in Goa. This claim also finds mention in the ED chargesheet in the Sisodia case.

After registering an FIR in August 2022, the CBI filed a chargesheet in November followed by a supplementary chargesheet in April this year against Sisodia and others. The ED began its investigations around the same time in November. While the AAP is up in arms denying the charges, the ED claims the senior leaders collectively made illegal gains against kickbacks, causing a loss to the government exchequer. In Sisodia’s case, the ED had told the court that he took various decisions as a part of the group of ministers and as the excise minister which ultimately resulted in a huge loss to the exchequer and illegal gains to specific persons and entities against kickbacks.

The ED claimed the excise policy scam allegedly caused a loss of Rs 2,873 crore to the government exchequer.