New Delhi ; The Union Home Ministry has granted sanction to the Enforcement Directorate to prosecute former Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy linked money laundering case, officials said.
The Centre has also given its node to prosecute former Delhi deputy chief minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the case. The federal agency has filed a chargesheet against Kejriwal before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here last year after arresting him in March. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently granted the required sanction to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for prosecuting the 56-year-old politician under the anti-money laundering law in the Delhi excise policy case, officials said. The development comes ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls on February 5.
Last month, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended the ED’s request to prosecute Kejriwal to the Centre, which enraged AAP. The party had termed Kejriwal’s arrest by CBI and ED completely “unauthorised and illegal”. Kejriwal has been made an accused in his personal capacity as well as in the capacity of being the national convener of his political party AAP.
The former chief minister was called the “kingpin and key conspirator” of the Delhi excise “scam” by the ED. It was alleged that he acted in collusion with Delhi government minister, the AAP leaders and others.
