Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned as a witness and is not an accused. (File)
New Delhi:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today in the liquor policy case. His ex-deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested last month for alleged corruption in the same case.
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Mr Kejriwal is scheduled to arrive at the CBI headquarters near central Delhi’s Lodhi Road at 11 am. His Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, who is also from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), will accompany him to the CBI office.
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AAP MPs and some Delhi ministers will also turn up to show support to Mr Kejriwal, whose questioning is the first for a serving Chief Minister in recent times.
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The Delhi Police have made tight security arrangements around the CBI headquarters. A large number of AAP workers are expected to come out in protest.
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Mr Kejriwal has been summoned as a witness and is not an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case. The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have alleged the Delhi government of corruption in framing the policy to favour a liquor lobby.
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The CBI is likely to question Mr Kejriwal on the statements of other accused regarding the manner in which the policy was framed and details of a “south lobby”, news agency PTI reported.
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The CBI has said it is focusing on the alleged influence of the “south lobby” of businessmen and politicians in making the liquor policy to swing in their favour using middlemen, traders and bureaucrats. Telangana’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha has already been questioned by the ED in the case.
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Mr Kejriwal’s AAP and other opposition parties have accused the centre of misusing investigative agencies to target and harass them, and possibly jail Mr Kejriwal ahead of the national election next year as plans for a united opposition firm up.
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After getting the summons, Mr Kejriwal alleged there is nothing the CBI can do as it has to follow what the BJP orders it to do. “If Arvind Kejriwal is corrupt then there is no one in this world who is honest… But if BJP has ordered the CBI to arrest me, then the CBI will obviously follow their instructions,” Mr Kejriwal said.
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The BJP has rubbished allegations of misusing central agencies to go after opposition leaders. BJP leaders have said Mr Kejriwal should not divert attention from the investigation as it is about accountability and not politics.
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“Corrupt face of AAP CM Arvind Kejriwal is exposed. He should tell CBI how much money he and his colleagues minted out of liquor scam. Irony, Kejriwal heading cabinet of corrupt ministers is calling himself only honest man in India. Perfect example of ulta chor kotwal ko dante,” Union Minister Anurag Thakur tweeted on Saturday, referring to the popular Hindi phrase about a thief scolding a cop.
