CBI arrests Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia in excise policy case; agency says answers unsatisfactory: Top developments

NEW DELHI: After nearly 8 hours of questioning, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on Sunday in connection with the excise policy scam case.
Delhi excise policy case live updates
Reacting to the arrest, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said Sisodia was innocent and that his arrest was part of "dirty politics".

"Manish is innocent. His arrest is dirty politics. There is a lot of anger among the people due to the arrest of Manish. Everyone is watching ... our struggle will get stronger," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. On February 24, the Delhi CM had claimed that Sisodia would be arrested by the CBI on Sunday.
Sisodia, who also holds the charge of finance and excise departments, was made accused number one by the CBI in an FIR registered in connection with alleged irregularities in formulation and implementation of the now-withdrawn Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 in July last year.
Three excise department officials, along with 12 private individuals, were also named in the FIR.
Here are the other top developments through the day:
Arrest is height of dictatorship; black day for democracy: AAP
Reacting to the arrest, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh said that Sisodia's arrest was the "height of dictatorship" and alleged that the deputy CM was entrapped in a "false case" because "the BJP is scared of the rising popularity of AAP and Arvind Kejriwal".
He added that when Sisodia's case goes to court, "the BJP government will not be able to prove corruption of even one rupee".

"Sisodia's arrest is the height of dictatorship. You have arrested a good person and best education minister which is not the right thing, Modi ji. God will not forgive you. One day, your dictatorship will definitely end, Modi ji," Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.
"Modiji, we will end your dictatorship, Manish Sisodia will come out. The blessings of crores of people are with him, and the curses of crores of people are with you. People across the country are watching, the public will respond," tweeted the party's Delhi unit.

"Black day for democracy! BJP's CBI arrested the world's best education minister Manish Sisodia in a fake case, who is shaping the future of lakhs of children. The BJP has made this arrest due to political rivalry," the party said in a tweet.
Kejriwal is next, taunts BJP
The BJP took jibes at AAP following Sisodia's arrest and said that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is next to be arrested.
"Where will you go after committing a crime, Ghalib? This land and sky all belong to AAP only," tweeted BJP MP Gautam Gambhir.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra said after Satyendra Jain, another corrupt minister of Arvind Kejriwal is in jail.

"Finally, Manish Sisodia has been arrested in the liquor scam. He was cursed by the mothers and sisters of families ruined by alcohol. After Satyendra Jain, another corrupt minister of Arvind Kejriwal is in jail. I have been saying from the beginning, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain will go to jail. Two of them are already there. Kejriwal is next," Mishra tweeted.
'Sisodia's answers not satisfactory'
Officials on Sunday said the CBI arrested Sisodia as his answers "were not satisfactory".

The officials of the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch grilled the minister on various aspects of the excise policy, his alleged link with Dinesh Arora and other accused mentioned in the FIR, and details of message exchanges from multiple phones among others, said officials.
The CBI investigators were not satisfied with Sisodia's responses. It was claimed that he was not cooperating in the investigation and avoiding clarifications sought by officials on crucial points, leading to his arrest, they said.
The probe agency officials said it was felt that custodial interrogation was necessary to put Sisodia through intense questioning, they said.
Sisodia visits Raj Ghat before questioning
Sisodia arrived at the heavily-barricaded CBI office around 11am for the second round of questioning after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat.

Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio in the Delhi Cabinet, was originally summoned last Sunday but he sought deferment of his questioning citing the ongoing Budget exercise, following which, the CBI had asked him to appear on February 26.
Shortly before arriving at the CBI office, Sisodia had said false cases are being lodged against leaders of the ruling party as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "afraid" of CM Arvind Kejriwal.

"Conspiracies are being hatched by the CBI and ED and false cases are being lodged against our party leaders because PM Modi is afraid of CM Arvind Kejriwal's rising popularity. As AAP grows further, BJP will continue to slap false cases on us. We are not afraid of the CBI, ED and their false cases," Sisodia had said.
He added that the PM, while not afraid of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, was scared of the AAP.
"Everyone says that only AAP will rid the country of the BJP in future. Modi-ji may not be scared of Rahul Gandhi but if there's one party that he is scared, it is the AAP. They will put me in jail, but we are not afraid. We will fight. Kejriwal is the only future leader of this country," Sisodia said, addressing supporters at Raj Ghat.
AAP leaders detained for protesting near agency office
The police on Sunday detained several AAP leaders, including Sanjay Singh and Gopal Rai, protesting near the CBI office in Delhi where Sisodia was questioned in the excise policy scam case.
Section 144 was imposed in the south district, the police said, adding that the protesters were detained to ensure that the law and order situation doesn't get out of hand. Confirming their detention, AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar said, "We were protesting peacefully but were detained."
Rai, the environment minister in the Delhi government, said the police were taking him away in his car.

In a tweet in Hindi, Rai said, "Modi ji's hooliganism at its peak... I cannot walk without someone's help but police surrounded my car from all sides and forcefully made the person accompanying me get down... Policemen barged inside my car and are taking me. This is the height of hooliganism but neither will we be scared nor will we bow down."
BJP using CBI to get revenge: Sisodia
In a tweet in Hindi, Sisodia said he will fully cooperate with the probe.

"Today, I am going to the CBI. Will fully cooperate in the probe. I have the love of lakhs of children and crores of countrymen with me. Even if I have to go to jail for a few months, I do not care. We are followers of Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh died for the country. If I have to go to jail over such false allegations, it is a small thing," he said.

Sisodia has alleged that the BJP wants to get him arrested to stop the development of Delhi. "They are using the CBI to take revenge and I am sure they will do that by getting me arrested," he charged.
Going to jail for country, society matter of pride: Kejriwal
CM Kejriwal said going to jail for the country and the society is not a curse but a matter of pride, amid apprehensions of his deputy Manish Sisodia's arrest by the CBI.

"God is with you Manish. The blessings of lakhs of children and their parents are with you. When you go to jail for the country and the society, it is not a curse but a matter of pride. I pray to god that you return from jail soon. Delhi's children, their parents and all of us will wait for you," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
AAP is a honest party: Atishi
Ahead of the CBI's questioning of Sisodia in the excise policy case, the AAP had on Saturday said he would fully cooperate with the investigation and asserted that it is a "hardcore honest" party.

"Tomorrow, Manish Sisodia will go for the CBI inquiry and will fully cooperate with them. In the last eight to 10 years, almost 150-200 cases have been filed against AAP leaders. But they (Centre) have not been able to prove corruption of even a single penny against our leaders. This is because the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a hardcore honest party," AAP legislator Atishi told reporters on Saturday.
Meanwhile, AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said Sisodia was the "future national education minister" and that is why the BJP are "scared of him".
He added that if Sisodia is jailed, "his route to national politics will open and the nation will see him as the future education minister at the national level".
Case history
The CBI launched a probe in the Delhi excise police scam case on the basis of a report forwarded by the Delhi chief secretary to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending an investigation.
It is alleged the Delhi government's policy to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. "It was further alleged that irregularities were committed including modifications in Excise Policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, the extension of L-1 license without approval etc. It was also alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts," a CBI spokesperson had said.
In August last year, the CBI searched Sisodia's bank locker in connection with the case. The deputy CM claimed the sleuths did not find any incriminating material in his locker. Several raids were conducted at 21 places in Delhi and the National Capital Region, including Sisodia's residence, and the premises of four public servants last year, according to a CBI officer, who further said that the raids were conducted across 7 states.
Sisodia was earlier examined for a day on October 17 last year, nearly a month before the central probe agency had filed its chargesheet against seven people, including middlemen and liquor traders, in which Sisodia was not listed as accused, but the agency had kept the probe into his alleged role open.
Recently, the CBI arrested Butchibabu Gorantla, a former Chartered Accountant of K Kavitha, a BRS MLC in Telangana and a daughter of CM K Chandrasekhar Rao.
It is alleged that Babu had met several accused named in the FIR in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai and was one of the prime negotiators for the 'South Lobby', a group which wanted to swing the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22 in its favour.
The CBI had also questioned Kavitha in connection with the case in December last year.
(With inputs from agencies)