Delhi excise ‘scam’: 2 ex-Goa MLAs were paid in cash by AAP for poll-related expenses, alleges CBI

PTI, Sep 7, 2024, 11:04 AM IST

Two  former Goa MLAs who contested the 2022 state Assembly polls on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tickets have alleged that they were paid in cash by a party volunteer for meeting campaign-related expenses, the CBI has said in its chargesheet in the Delhi excise policy case.

The agency has alleged that of the total of Rs 90-100 crore of ill-gotten money paid by the “South Group” to tweak the excise policy in its favour, an amount of Rs 44.5 crore in cash was sent to Goa for meeting election-related expenses.

In its fifth and final supplementary chargesheet in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that the role of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with that of another accused Durgesh Pathak, a Delhi MLA and the AAP in-charge for the Goa polls, has surfaced in the transfer of the ill-gotten money and its use to meet election-related expenditures.

The CBI has alleged that two former MLAs — Mahadev Narayan Naik and Satyavijay Naik — were approached by Pathak, who asked them to contest the February 2022 Assembly polls on the AAP’s tickets from the Shiroda and Valpoi constituencies respectively.

When they cited a lack of funds to contest the election, Pathak allegedly told them that “all the election-related expenditures would be made by the AAP”.

According to the statement of Mahadev Naik, Pathak allegedly took him to Delhi and made him meet Kejriwal, who not only finalised his ticket but also assured him that “all assistance would be provided by the party”.

Citing statements of both the candidates, the CBI has alleged that “they have further confirmed that all the expenditures for the campaigning done by the candidates of the AAP were not paid by the candidates and it was paid by the party in cash”.

The candidate from Valpoi, Satyavijay Naik, told the federal agency that AAP volunteer Chanpreet Singh Rayat, already an accused in the case, allegedly paid him Rs 15-17 lakh in cash in instalments of Rs 1-2 lakh for election-related expenses like fuel, vehicles etc.

“They (Satyavijay and Mahadev) attended a meeting of all the candidates of the AAP, called by accused Arvind Kejriwal at Hotel Cidade De Goa, and in the said meeting, accused Arvind Kejriwal told all the candidates that they should not worry about the election-related expenses and only to concentrate on the campaigning,” the CBI has alleged.

The agency has also cited “links” between Kejriwal and Vinod Chauhan, who allegedly transferred cash to Goa, in its chargesheet to buttress the point that the Delhi chief minister was aware that ill-gotten funds were used in the election in the coastal state.

The agency has produced photographs of 18 Rs-10 notes that were allegedly recovered from Chauhan’s iPhone and used to transfer Rs 18 crore in cash to Rayat through the “Hawala” route.

Citing various records purportedly recovered from Chauhan’s phone, the CBI has alleged that “these clearly show that accused Vinod Chauhan is well connected with accused Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, and acted as a conduit of accused Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP to transfer the ill-gotten money of the Delhi excise policy to Goa through the Hawala channel to the accused Chanpreet Singh Rayat, who used to make payments in cash to different vendors”.