Trouble could be mounting for Delhi Ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj after AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was sent to 15 days judicial custody till April 15, in Tihar, reportedly named them in the Liquorgate policy scam case, as claimed by Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the ED, on Monday told the special judge Kaveri Baweja, hearing the Kejriwal case at the Rouse Avenue Court, that Delhi Chief Minister has told that the controversial middleman Vijay Nair reported to Atishi and Bharadwaj not him.

“Kejriwal’s conduct has been totally non-cooperative and he has tried to mislead the interrogation. He said Vijay Nair does not report to me but to Atishi. Kejriwal is not sharing the password for his phone,” ASG Raju submitted in the court. “How far are these arguments relevant to the application for Judicial Custody,” the Court asked.

“We reserve the right to seek his ED custody at a later stage,” the ASG replied. Kejriwal’s wife Sunita and party colleagues and AAP MLAs Atishi, Bharadwaj and Gopal Rai were inside the courtroom on Monday.

The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court sent the 55-year-old Kejriwal, also the national convener of the AAP, to judicial custody till April 15 in connection with the money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

In its remand application, the ED said during Kejriwal’s custodial interrogation, he gave “evasive replies” and concealed information. It said the Chief Minister’s statements were taken over a period of nine days and he was confronted with the statements of different witnesses, approvers and other co-accused. The plea listed “a few of the glaring examples of evasive and misleading replies” given by Kejriwal.

Nair was the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a Mumbai-based entertainment and event management company named Only Much Louder (OML). He worked as a ‘part-time volunteer’ of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in the run-up to the 2020 Delhi State Legislative Assembly polls. During his stint with the Kejriwal-led party, he helped organise party events and manage social media handles.

The statements of Nair, however, revealed that he stayed in a Cabinet Minister’s bungalow and worked from the Chief Minister’s camp office, the remand application said.

“It was also put to the arrestee to explain that why would someone, who reported to other leaders of AAP, work from his camp office which anyways is meant for the work of the CM of Delhi and not for the party. Kejriwal evaded replying to this by claiming unawareness to the persons who work at the CM camp office,” it said.

The plea underlined that Nair was not some small time volunteer in the party but head of media and communications. “The arrestee (Kejriwal) has not answered the questions posed to him by questioning the authenticity of digital evidence shown to him. The arrestee also did not reveal the passwords of his digital devices which inhibits the evidence collection and also shows his non-cooperation,” it said.

The application said Kejriwal was shown the evidence of more than 10 meetings of Nair with other co-accused persons involved in liquor business including liquor manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and even middlemen like Dinesh Arora and Abhishek Boinpally.

“It was put to the arrestee to explain the authority with which Nair attended these meetings, the arrestee evaded the question by claiming unawareness of these persons and it is clear that a senior functionary like Nair who closely worked with the arrestee wouldn’t be able to assert himself without the sanction and approval of the head of the party,” it said.

It had also claimed that Nair “arranged a video call through facetime (a video calling facility on iPhone) on his phone for Sameer (Mahandru) and Kejriwal, where Kejriwal told Sameer that, Vijay is his boy and that Sameer should trust him and carry on with him”. 

Sameer, a liquor businessman, was arrested in this case by the ED.

The ED said it asked Kejriwal why Nair was staying in the bungalow of a Cabinet Minister (Gahlot) and worked at the CM’s camp office but he claimed “unawareness” about the persons who worked at his camp office.

“This is also because the ultimate benefit of these conspiracies or meetings was reaped by the AAP in the Goa election campaign,” the remand application added. It said Kejriwal was shown the evidence of hawala transfers of around Rs 45 crore, which was corroborated with CDR locations, call records, WhatsApp chats, seized data of the hawala firm in Goa and proof of payments being made.

He was also shown multiple statements of witnesses who worked on the AAP campaign in Goa and who received cash from one Chanpreet Singh who was working for the AAP campaign in Goa, the plea said. It said, “Even after showing all the above evidence, the arrestee claimed unawareness even though the beneficiary of these funds is the AAP which is headed by him.”

The application said Kejriwal provided “false and contrary evidence vis-a-vis other members of the AAP”. It said AAPs national treasurer ND Gupta had stated that national convener of the party, Kejriwal, appointed the State election in-charge or ‘prabhari’, who managed all matters regarding election campaigns.

Durgesh Pathak was chosen as the ‘prabhari’ for Goa elections. Kejriwal, however, stated that it is the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) which decided the State election in-charge, the remand application said.

 It said, “Kejriwal who first says that ND Gupta is an active member of the party and is a member of PAC and has knowledge of the party functioning but when confronted with Gupta’s statement revealing that the national convenor takes such decisions, Kejriwal calls the national treasurer (Gupta) confused.”

The plea sought Kejriwal’s 15-day judicial custody on the grounds that he was “highly influential” and if released, there was every likelihood that the Chief Minister would influence witnesses and tamper with the evidence.

Earlier, Kejriwal’s counsel moved an application to allow him to read three books - Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and How Prime Ministers Decide by Neerja Chowdhury.

He also sought permission for a special diet and to have a religious locket. Before he was produced in court, Kejriwal told reporters outside the courtroom, “Jo PM kar rahe hain vo desh ke liye achha nahi hai. (What the PM is doing is not good for the country)”.

The agency said Kejriwal was shown “evidence” about more than 10 meetings that Nair had with other co-accused named in this case like liquor manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and even “middlemen” like Dinesh Arora and Abhishek Boinpally and was asked under what authority was he attending these meetings?  It said Kejriwal “evaded” the question by saying he was unaware about these persons.

It was also brought out by the ED in the Rouse Avenue Court today that Kejriwal as the CM, never signed any important file to deliberately evade responsibility. He started signing files only after the then newly appointed LG flagged this issue to Kejriwal in a letter to him in June 2022.