New Delhi, Jan 15: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has authorized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to initiate prosecution against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for their alleged involvement in money laundering linked to the liquor scam case, official sources said on Wednesday.

The sanction order against these Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were received earlier this month in a fresh development to the case pertains to the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22.

The move comes as the two leaders are out on bail in the case as the Supreme Court in September last year ordered Arvind Kejriwal to be released on regular bail as well as Manish Sisodia a month ago in August in cases linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

The development is significant as a special PMLA court in Delhi had delayed the framing of charges against Arvind Kejriwal after he challenged the trial court's decision to take cognizance of the chargesheet in the absence of specific sanction for prosecution under PMLA.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has filed a chargesheet against Arvind Kejriwal under the Prevention of Corruption Act, received the necessary sanction for prosecution in August of last year.

This decision follows the Supreme Court's ruling on November 6, which mandated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) must also obtain prior sanction for prosecution under Section 197(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (now Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) in money laundering cases, similar to the requirement for the CBI.

The framing of charges against Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case had been delayed in a Delhi court due to the lack of the necessary sanction.

Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been accused of accepting bribes from the 'South Group,' a cartel that controlled the sale and distribution of liquor in Delhi and allegedly profited from the excise policy implemented by the Delhi government for 2021-22.

Till date, the ED has conducted searches on 245 locations across the country including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and other places in the case.

Over a dozen persons including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair from AAP have been arrested in the case so far.

The ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and named him in a charge sheet filed on May 17. The ED alleges that out of an alleged Rs 100 crore bribe received for favoring certain liquor traders, Rs 45 crore was used to fund AAP's election campaign in Goa.

The ED claims Arvind Kejriwal, as the national convenor and a member of AAP's national executive, was ultimately responsible for overseeing the funds and activities.

The agency labelled Kejriwal as the "brain" behind AAP, asserting that he controlled the party's operations. Citing witness statements, the ED also accused Kejriwal of playing a key role in the policy's decision-making and demanding kickbacks. The ED claims to have identified proceeds of crime totalling Rs 1,100 crore.

Kejriwal, along with his then-deputy Manish Sisodia and former AAP media head Vijay Nair, is accused of soliciting additional funds beyond the Rs 100 crore bribe to finance election campaigns. The ED described Kejriwal as the "kingpin" behind the irregularities linked to the excise policy.

(ANI)

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