Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday came out in support of arrested party leader and his former deputy Manish Sisodia after the Enforcement Directorate said that it has attached assets of Sisodia and his wife in connection with the excise policy case.
Kejriwal's remarks came after the ED said on Friday that it has attached assets worth Rs 52.24 crore belonging to Manish Sisodia, his wife Seema Sisodia, and some other accused persons in connection with the excise policy case.
Kejriwal said, "Prime Minister, when you couldn't find anything against Manish Sisodia, you started defaming him through the ED. Your ED is spreading false news on TV channels that Manish Sisodia's assets worth Rs 52 crore have been seized.
"Assets worth Rs 80 lakh have been seized from him, which were bought before 2018, much before the excise policy was even formed. The entire wealth is on paper and declared. People never thought that such a Prime Minister would come, who would try to eliminate his political opponents by openly lying like this in a great country like India. You also know who the real corrupt people are. If you have the courage, catch them,” Kejriwal said.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi Finance Minister Atishi also slammed the BJP after the ED provisionally attached certain assets in the ongoing excise policy case.
The AAP leader said that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are orchestrating a malicious witch-hunt against Sisodia.
"As part of this witch-hunt, the BJP is planting fake stories in the media that the ED has attached Sisodia’s assets amounting to Rs 52 crore in the excise policy case. However, ED’s own documents clearly state that as part of the broader exercise, assets worth merely Rs 16 lakh belong to Sisodia," she said.
The AAP minister said, “ED’s July 3 order states that only a bank account and an old flat belonging to Sisodia have been provisionally attached by the ED. As per the ED, his Bank of Baroda account contains only Rs 11.49 lakh. Apart from this, a flat in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, valued at Rs 5.07 lakh by ED, which is in Sisodia’s name, has been provisionally attached. The ED has put it on record that this flat was bought by him in 2005, well before he joined politics.”
Atishi also said that a flat in Mayur Vihar valued at Rs 65 lakh by the ED which is in the name of Sisoida’s wife has also been provisionally attached.
“As per ED, this flat was bought in the year 2018, almost half-a-decade prior to this excise policy investigation, many years before the policy in question was conceived,” she said.
As per ED documents, the total value of the assets belonging to Sisodia and his wife total up to only Rs 81 lakh. Even in this, the flats are much older and have no connection with the ongoing case, she said.
“This whole propaganda is nothing but PM Modi and BJP’s attempt to deliberately misguide the public,” Atishi said, alleging that Modi is on a mission to destroy the life of Sisodia because he is refusing to bow down before him even after being in jail.
“The AAP is steadfastly honest. Our leaders don’t fear PM Modi’s jails. This is now irking him. He is frustrated that despite his best attempts, he is unable to break the Aam Aadmi Party,” she claimed.
Atishi also called on the Prime Minister and the BJP to apologise to Sisodia and his family.
She said that if the PM and his party read the ED’s papers even once, they would know what the truth is.
The remarks from the AAP leaders came after the ED claimed that it has attached properties worth Rs 52.24 crore of Sisodia, his wife, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Rajesh Joshi, Gautam Malhotra and others in connection with the case.
The agency said that the attached assets include immovable properties worth Rs 7.29 crore -- including two immovable properties of Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia, land/flat of Joshi or Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd and land/flat of Malhotra.
The probe agency said that the attachments also include movable assets worth Rs 44.29 crore, including bank balances of Sisodia worth Rs 11.49 lakh, Brindco Sales Pvt Ltd worth Rs 16.45 crore, and others.
The ED has arrested 12 persons so far in connection with the case besides filing five charge sheets.
The ED's case of money laundering is based on a CBI FIR filed on August 17 last year.
The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26 this year, before the ED arrested him in March. Sisodia, the former Deputy CM of Delhi, is currently in judicial custody.
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