The Enforcement Directorate is likely to file its ninth supplementary chargesheet in the Delhi Excise Policy case on Friday. The investigating agency informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that it proposed to file a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against Kejriwal and the AAP.
"We will do it shortly. It is in the pipeline," Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. The SC was hearing a plea filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest in the money laundering case arising from the alleged Delhi excise scam.
The agency added that it had enough evidence to show that Kejriwal demanded Rs 100 crore bribe which was used by AAP in the Goa assembly poll campaign. "We have direct evidence that Kejriwal stayed in a seven-star hotel, whose bills were partly paid by an accused in the case," Raju submitted, adding Kejriwal played a key role in the formulation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
He alleged that Kejriwal, as the national convenor of the AAP, was vicariously responsible for the alleged scam. Kejriwal, despite being the chief minister, does not hold any departmental portfolio.
Besides Kejriwal, the chargesheet is also likely to have AAP as the prime accused in the case. "AAP is going to be made a co-accused in the next prosecution complaint (charge sheet) to be filed in the case," ED's counsel contended before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. The agency's lawyer added that there was a "concerted effort on the part of the other accused persons to not let arguments on the charge to commence because delay in commencement on charge favours the present applicant".(Sisodia).
The chargesheet is reportedly in its "final drafting stage" and is expected to include the names of "four or five" additional accused individuals.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife that AAP will be named an accused through Kejriwal via section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED could also cite rules under the Representation of People's Act to accuse AAP's bank accounts were used to receive kickbacks from the liquor policy scam.
Last week, the ED filed a sixth supplementary chargesheet against BRS Leader K Kavitha, who is in judicial custody, and four others in the liquor policy case. The 224-page chargesheet also named Chanpreet Singh, Damodar Sharma, Prince Kumar and Arvind Singh as accused of money laundering.
