A day after he skipped summon, Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appear before it on February 26 in the now-scraped liquor policy case.
Sisodia, considered the second most powerful leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been asked to join questioning at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi.
He was earlier asked to appear on February 19, but he skipped the summon and wrote to the CBI seeking a week’s time, citing his engagement in budget preparations.
“As a Deputy CM of Delhi, it is my duty to make the budget of Delhi. As of now, even a single minute is crucial. I have requested that the CBI officer give me time till the end of this month. I can come afterwards anytime,” said Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s finance minister.
The CBI summon comes four days after a local court rejected the bail pleas of five accused in a case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate into money laundering case of the case.
Earlier, CBI questioned Sisodia and several others including K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana chief minister and Bharath Rashtra Party leader K Chandrasekhar Rao in connection with the case.
The CBI filed a case on August 17, last year, in response to a complaint filed by Lt Governor Vinai Saxena.
It has named Sisodia, who is an AAP leader, as accused number one in the case, along with his close aide Nair, who is also the former CEO of Mumbai-based entertainment and event management company Only Much Louder, besides 13 private people across Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Karnataka, which include liquor firms Brindco and Indospirit.
In August last year, the agency carried out searches at several locations, including the premises of Sisodia. Even so, ED had carried out searches at over 189 locations in connection with the case.