Kejriwal questioned at CBI headquarters; AAP leaders protest

After being questioned for over 9 hours, Kejriwal claims CBI has no evidence against AAP govt in Delhi's excise policy case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Photo/ANI)

ANI, 16 April, 2023, New Delhi : The investigation in Delhi’s liquor policy case reached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday as the AAP convenor was questioned for nearly 9 hours in the matter in which former deputy chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio and several other ministries, was arrested last month.

Kejriwal, who on Sunday was questioned for over nine hours at the CBI headquarters in the national capital, said that the probe agency does not have any bit of evidence against the Aam Aadmi Party government that “it has committed any wrong in the framing of now scrapped new excise policy.”

Kejriwal arrived at the CBI office at around 11 am, accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other party leaders. He was questioned for nearly nine years.

“CBI questioning was conducted for 9.5 hours. I answered all the questions. The entire alleged liquor scam is false and is out of bad politics. AAP is ‘kattar imaandaar party’. They want to finish AAP but the country’s people are with us,” Kejriwal said while speaking to the media after coming out of questioning.

When asked about the questions that were asked from him during the questioning, he said that it covered everything from the framing of the policy to the end of it.

“They asked everything including why we started the policy and how we did it. They asked me nearly 56 questions starting from 2020 till the end,” he said.

The Chief Minister added that he has not been summoned again.

“They have not indicated that they will call me once again. They don’t have an inch of evidence to prove that the AAP government has done anything wrong,” Kejriwal said.

CBI, in a statement, said that it recorded Kejriwal’s statement in connection with the Excise policy case on Sunday and said that it will be verified and collated with the “available evidence”.

According to a statement by the CBI, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was issued a notice under section 160 Cr.P.C for his examination in this case on 16.04.2023 and answering various questions related to the case. He joined the investigation today and his statement has been recorded u/s. 161 Cr.P.C.

“The statement will be verified and collated with the available evidence,” the statement said.

Earlier in the day, the AAP leaders staged a protest against Kejriwal’s questioning in the national capital. Various leaders of the party including senior leaders like Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh and others. However, they were later released by the police.

AAP workers protested in Punjab’s Amritsar also against Kejriwal’s questioning.

Ahead of his appearance before the central investigative agency in connection with the excise policy case, Kejriwal paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in the national capital on Sunday.

Kejriwal was accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Maan, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and other top leaders of the party.

Before heading to the CBI office, Kejriwal said that the central agency will arrest him if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has given the orders.

In a video message released on Sunday morning, Kejriwal said, “They (CBI) have called me today and I will definitely go. They are very powerful, they can send anyone to jail. If BJP has ordered CBI to arrest me, then CBI will obviously follow their instructions.”

Earlier today, Raghav Chadha called Kejriwal “Lord Krishna” and called Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as “Kansa”.

“Kansa knew that Lord Shri Krishna would finish him and, hence, made every effort and hatched many conspiracies to inflict harm on Shri Krishna. He could not even harm a hair on his head. Similarly, today the BJP knows that the AAP will bring their downfall,” Chadha said.

Chadha said the party which was carved out of the anti-corruption movement has seen all kinds of struggle and is not scared of CBI, ED or police detention.

“We want to give the BJP a message that our party was carved out of the anti-corruption movement and has seen all kinds of struggle. We aren’t scared of CBI, ED or police detention. BJP suffers from Kejriwal phobia. It is because of Kejriwal’s fear that the BJP has come down to such an act. We have not been told our crime or the IPC regulation that we have broken,” said Raghav Chadha while talking to ANI.

As the Aam Aadmi Party leaders were detained for protesting outside the CBI office in the national capital, party leader Jasmine Shah on Sunday asked if the “central government has converted Delhi to North Korea” which is governed by a dictatorship.

Addressing a press conference here, Shah said, “Kejriwal did not try to duck the summons. He will cooperate in the future also. But does that mean that you will not allow a common man to protest? Have you made Delhi a North Korea? It is a matter of shame. The country is watching that democracy is being strangulated.”

The AAP leader further alleged that the right to protest in the country is “dead”.

“The right to protest is a sacred right in any democracy. Police was deployed outside the residences of MLAs and said that they would not let them get outside. They picked them up who came outside their residences. Delhi Police detained all the leaders who were protesting silently and waiting for Arvind Kejriwal to come out. The police took them to an unidentified place. The right to protest is dead,” he alleged.