In a first, ED names AAP as accused in Delhi liquor policy case
New Delhi/IBNS: In a first instance in the country's jurisprudence, the Enforcement Directorate has named a political party, Aam Aadmi Party, as an accused in a case.
In a supplementary chargesheet filed in the Rouse Avenue court in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam on Friday, the probe agency has named the AAP, a national political party, and its convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, who is out on interim bail in the case.
The agency is probing the money laundering angle of the alleged scam and this is the eighth chargesheet it has filed in the case, but the first in which the Delhi chief minister has been named.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21, becoming the third senior AAP leader to be taken into custody in the alleged scam, after his former deputy Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.
According to reports, the decision to name the AAP as an accused can have major repercussions for the party.
The Enforcement Directorate will now have the option of writing to the Election Commission of India and requesting them to begin the process of derecognising the Aam Aadmi Party. It can also attach the party's assets, including its headquarters in Delhi.
The development comes at a time when the AAP is embroiled in a controversy surrounding its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, who has alleged that she was slapped and kicked by Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the chief minister's residence on Monday when she was waiting to meet the AAP chief.
The allegations have triggered a political storm and the AAP has faced attacks from various quarters, including from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
An alleged video from the day has also led to Maliwal and the AAP trading charges.
Earlier on Friday, a Delhi Police team, accompanied by forensic specialists, had visited Kejriwal's residence as part of its investigation into Maliwal's complaint.
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