Manish Sisodia's residence in Delhi raided by CBI; Arvind Kejriwal reacts

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Friday morning said that a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrived at his residence. It is believed that the agency sleuths reached Sisodia's residence in connection with the investigation into Delhi Excise Policy.

Sisodia in a series of Tweets 'welcomed' the agency officials and assured that he will cooperate with the probe so that the truth comes out soon.

"CBI has arrived. We are honest, building a future for lakhs of children. Unfortunate that in this country, whoever does good work is hassled just like this, that is why our country is still not number-1," Sisodia tweeted.

"I extend my welcome to the CBI. I will cooperate with the investigation so that the truth comes out at the earliest. Till now many cases have been filed against me but nothing has come out. Nothing will come out of it either. My work cannot be stopped for a good education in the country," he added.

He also said that allegations against him and Health Minister Satyendar Jain are false. "These people are troubled by the excellent work of Delhi's education and health. That is why the Health Minister and the Education Minister of Delhi are on the radar so that the good work of education and health can be stopped," he said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case.

सीबीआई आई है. उनका स्वागत है. हम कट्टर ईमानदार हैं . लाखों बच्चों का भविष्य बना रहे हैं.

बहुत ही दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है कि हमारे देश में जो अच्छा काम करता है उसे इसी तरह परेशान किया जाता है. इसीलिए हमारा देश अभी तक नम्बर-1 नहीं बन पाया.

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 19, 2022

According to a PTI report, the CBI is conducting searches at 21 locations in Delhi-NCR, including at the premises of Sisodia and IAS officer Arava Gopi Krishna, after registering an FIR in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. The CBI has registered the FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy brought in November last year, they said.

Delhi L-G VK Saxena had recommended a CBI probe into the Kejriwal government's Excise Policy, 2021-22, over alleged violations of rules and procedural lapses. The CBI inquiry was recommended on the Delhi Chief Secretary's report filed in July, showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009 and Delhi Excise Rules-2010.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also reacted to the action taken by CBI.  and said "The day on which the Delhi education model was praised and Manish Sisodia's picture was printed on the front page of America's largest newspaper NYT, on the same day Manish's house center sent CBI."

He added that CBI is welcomed and the Delhi government will fully co-operate in the search. He also claimed that there have been raids in the past but they did not yield any results.