Following the searches on Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, over allegations of corruption in the liquor policy, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena ordered the transfer of 12 IAS officers yesterday evening.
Manish Sisodia, who also oversees the Excise department, was searched by the CBI and designated an accused in the First Information Report, or FIR, on violations of the alcohol policy hours prior to the administrative reorganization.
On a list of 15 defendants listed in the CBI's FIR, Mr. Sisodia is listed first. The 11-page document lists the following offences: corruption, criminal conspiracy, and account falsification.
Along with Mr. Sisodia's residence in Delhi, the CBI also searched 31 other places in seven different states. Manish Sisodia claimed that following the 14-hour raid, his computer and phone have been seized by the probe agency.
Liquor shop licenses were given to private players under the November-introduced regulation. After an investigation was initially launched by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police, it was reversed by Mr. Sisodia on July 30.
According to the CBI, Mr. Sisodia imposed the new rule about who could sell alcohol in Delhi without the Lieutenant Governor's consent, who serves as the center's representative in Delhi.
The CBI alleged in its FIR that a liquor trader gave one crore rupees to a business run by Mr. Sisodia's colleague. According to the investigation agency, intermediaries and alcohol distributors "actively participated in irregularities in the framing and implementation" of the excise policy.
Following a report by the Chief Secretary that claimed there were inconsistencies in the new liquor policy, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had requested the CBI investigation last month.
The Excise policy was allegedly introduced by AAP "with the sole purpose" of enriching private liquor barons and "individuals at the highest echelons of the government leading up to Manish Sisodia," according to the Lieutenant Governor.
Mr. Sisodia claimed the BJP is abusing the government agencies for political gain while denying any wrongdoing. Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and the chief minister of Delhi, has vehemently endorsed his deputy.
The front-page mention of Mr. Sisodia in the New York Times on Thursday apparently infuriated the Center, according to AAP, who claims that Mr. Sisodia is being targeted.
