Kapil Sibal on CBI summons to Arvind Kejriwal: 'Persecution on course'

A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI summoned Arvind Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday described the move by the probe agency as “persecution”. The CBI summoned Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy scam case on April 16.

While the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that the Bharatiya Janata was conspiring to arrest the Delhi chief minister in the "fabricated" excise policy case, the BJP welcomed the CBI move, claiming that it had been saying all along that Kejriwal was the “mastermind of the liquor scam”.

Reacting to the development, Sibal tweeted, “CBI summons Kejriwal. BJP says : Law on course. My take: Persecution on course !”

Later, Sibal hit out at the BJP, alleging that the ruling party wants to establish an “Opposition-free India” and is seeking to “malign” the image of leaders who stand up against it.

Sibal urged all Opposition parties to speak up in one voice against this "misuse" of probe agencies and asserted that it will be difficult to take on the BJP until all such parties stand together.

"They (the BJP) want an Opposition-free India and are targeting all Opposition leaders. We've seen how they have targeted Opposition chief ministers of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and other leaders," he said in a statement.

Sibal also alleged that the BJP has misused provisions of the Tenth Schedule to topple elected governments. The BJP wants to "malign" the image of Opposition leaders and is "misusing" the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate for it, he alleged.

Sibal said he had predicted the action against Kejriwal as he was taking on the government and it was in line with the targeting of other Opposition leaders.

Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA 1 and 2, recently floated the non-electoral platform 'Insaaf', aimed at fighting injustice.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the Delhi chief minister will appear before the CBI on April 16. Kejriwal has been asked to be present at the agency headquarters at 11am to answer queries of the investigating team.

The central probe agency has already arrested former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the case.

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped.

Describing the summons as a desperate attempt by the BJP to silence their opposition, Singh said these summons will only strengthen Kejriwal's anti-corruption crusade.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva congratulated the people of Delhi over the CBI summons to Kejriwal.

"Delhi BJP has all along been saying that Kejriwal is the mastermind of liquor scam in which his minister Manish Sisodia is in jail. Kejriwal is directly involved in the scam because the excise policy was approved by his Cabinet under his chairmanship," Sachdeva alleged.

(With inputs from PTI)