Know how ED debunked AAP's allegation over BJP's involvement in Delhi Excise Policy scam investigation

Did BJP’s Delhi candidate Bansuri Swaraj’s name appear in the ED’s list of lawyers handling the AAP leader Sanjay Singh’s case? The central probe agency says no, putting to rest the Aam Aadmi Party’s speculation that the saffron party is involved in the investigation.

On April 2, AAP leader Sanjay Singh got bail in the Delhi Excise Policy case after the ED did not object to it.

Delhi’s Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, after the Supreme Court ordered bail for Singh, said, “A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court warned the ED, saying that if you oppose this bail, we will write the decision on it, based on merits, facts and the facts are against you. You have not presented any evidence against Sanjay Singh…BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj’s name is also there in the list of ED lawyers. So it has become clear that ED and BJP are one.”

The Enforcement Directorate’s counsel advocate Zoheb Hossain, according to the Bar & Bench, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Bansuri Swaraj’s name was mentioned in the list of lawyers was a mistake.

Bansuri Swaraj, BJP’s candidate from New Delhi constituency and the daughter of former foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, is a lawyer by profession.

During the bail plea hearing, the bench noted that Singh had not been found possessing money, while the allegation of him receiving Rs 2 crore in bribe could be tested in the trial.

“Nothing has been recovered, there is no trace,” the bench told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the central probe agency.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on October 4, 2023, in the money laundering case citing his alleged role in framing and implementing the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. As per the agency, the policy was aimed at benefiting certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.