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Delhi Dy CM cites preoccupation with budget; Agency agrees to change in dates
In a major relief to Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accepted his request for more time to join the probe in its now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
Dy CM Sisodia had to appear before the CBI on Sunday morning, but he requested the agency grant him time till the end of this month.
The CBI sources confirmed that they had accepted Sisodia’s request and would serve him a fresh notice in the coming days.
Earlier in the day, Sisodia, said that he had requested more time as he was busy making the Delhi budget, which will be ending by the end of this month.
“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,” Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s finance minister, said.
“I always cooperate with the agency and will do the same in the future as well,” he said.
On Saturday, January 18, Sisodia took to Twitter and wrote, “I have been called again by the CBI tomorrow. They have used the full power of CBI, and ED, my home was searched, and they searched my lockers but could not get anything. I have worked for better education for children. They want to stop that. I have always cooperated in the probe and will keep on doing so.”
The CBI action came two days after a court in Delhi rejected the bail pleas of five accused in the ED’s money laundering case. The special court rejected the bail applications of Abhishek Bonipally, Vijay Nair, Sharath Chandra Reddy, Benoy Babu and Sameer Mahendru.
Earlier, the CBI questioned Sisodia and several others, including K Kavitha, the 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 Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The complaint has named Sisodia, who is a senior AAP leader, as accused number one in the case, along with his close aide Nair, who is also the party’s communication in-charge, besides 13 private people and entities 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. ED had also carried out searches at over 189 locations in connection with the case.
