There is more trouble for the ruling AAP Government in Delhi. Days after the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now after Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, who appeared before it in the liquorgate scam case on Saturday.
The Transport Minister was questioned by the ED for more than five hours on Saturday. Gahlot was part of the Group of Ministers who prepared and implemented the liquor scheme. This was the second summons issued to Gahlot and he responded to it.
He skipped the first one as Delhi Assembly proceedings were on at that time. Gahlot (49), an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Najafgarh, is the Minister for Transport, Home and Law in the Delhi Government.
The Minister, who entered the ED office in Central Delhi around 11:30 am and left after 4:30 pm, said he answered all the questions from the agency and will continue to cooperate in the probe. Sources said Gahlot has been asked to appear for questioning in the case and getting his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Gahlot said he was called by the ED for questioning in the case as “probably I was part of the GoM... It (questioning) was about all aspects of the policy and I answered to the best of my knowledge and memory.”
He said this was the second summons sent to him as he could not depose for the first time about a month back as the Budget session of the Delhi Assembly was on. Gahlot told reporters that he told the agency he had no information that Nair used to live in a bungalow allotted to him.
“I have never lived in my official bungalow at Civil Lines. Vijay Nair was living there or not I have no information,” he said adding that there was no cross-questioning or confrontation with any other person or statement.”I never shifted to that bungalow and live with my family at my own house in Vasant Kunj that is in front of the school of my children,” he said.
The Minister also said that he was not involved in Assembly polls in Goa. “I have no idea about Goa and I had never been part of campaigning and had no knowledge who was incharge there or what activities were taking place,” he said. Gahlot asserted that there was no “scam” and it will become clearer with time. “There is no scam here... As the time goes by, everyone will be convinced about this,” he told reporters while exiting the ED office. Gahlot’s name featured in the high-profile case not only because he was part of the Group of Ministers behind the policy but also because AAP’s Vijay Nair was staying at the bungalow allotted to him at Civil Lines.
The ED has mentioned Gahlot’s name in its chargesheet and in the context of Nair, the AAP communications in-charge arrested earlier in the case, saying Nair lived in the Government bungalow allotted to Gahlot, who “ironically” lives in Najafgarh in southwest Delhi.
Describing this practice of allowing the use of a Government residence to someone else by a public servant as a “criminal breach of trust”, the ED had said it had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take action in the matter.
This is the first time that AAP Minister appeared before the ED in the second summon issued to him. Kejriwal did not appear before the ED after the 10th summons issued to him before his arrest.
He termed ED’s action politically motivated and cited various reasons including election campaigning to avoid the summons. The ED has also alleged in its chargesheet that Gahlot handled a single SIM number but his IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) was changed thrice.
Earlier, the ED alleged that Gahlot repeatedly changed his mobile numbers. Interestingly, this is not the first time that Gehlot has come under the scanner of law agencies.
The I-T department had seized unaccounted jewellery worth Rs. 28 lakhs from a locker in the name of Gahlot and his wife. The total seizure amounts to Rs. 2 crore of jewellery and cash of Rs. 37 lakhs. The raid was conducted on 25 October 2018. Meanwhile, trouble continues for Kejriwal as a fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking his removal from the post of Chief Minister.
The petition, filed by Hindu Sena President, Vishnu Gupta, says that the situation after Kejriwal’s recent arrest by the ED in connection with the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam constitutes a breach of Constitutional trust mandated by the Constitution. Gupta’s petition, however, argues that under Article 164 of the Constitution, a Chief Minister’s dismissal is warranted if they act in a manner that undermines the rule of law or breaches constitutional trust.
The crux of the PIL revolves around whether the Governor possesses the discretion to dismiss a Chief Minister in an extraordinary situation such as arrest, given the Constitution’s silence on the matter. Delhi BJP president Sachdeva reacted to the summons. “Another Delhi government Minister has been summoned (by ED) now. The truth will come forth to the public. (Delhi CM) Arvind Kejriwal and his party’s corrupt face is now in front of everyone,” he said. The ED claimed that AAP leaders received kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore in the excise policy. Kejriwal’s name has also been mentioned multiple times in the charge sheets filed by the ED.
