No one is above law; AAP fears Kejriwal’s arrest in excise case: BJP

PTI, Aug 30, 2023, 4:37 PM IST

New Delhi: The arrest of an ED official for allegedly taking a bribe to favour an accused in the Delhi excise scam case has sent the message that no one is above law, and has also left the AAP jittery as it fears “kingpin” Arvind Kejriwal will also be behind bars.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party after its leader Sanjay Singh questioned the excise scam case following the official’s arrest. Bhatia said higher courts have rejected AAP’s plea against the matter and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been “languishing in jail for over six months.

Sisodia had moved the Supreme Court against the case within days of his arrest but his plea was rejected and he has not been given bail despite numerous efforts, Bhatia told reporters, ridiculing Singh’s claim of an “imaginary scam” when probe agencies have filed chargesheet in court.

“This arrest (of ED official) has been made by the CBI. It shows that the CBI and ED are working together and if anyone tries to interfere in the case through corruption and pressure, his place is behind bars,” the BJP leader said, describing the arrest of ED Assistant Director Pawan Khatri as a “good sign” about the probe agencies’ work.

If the AAP thinks the excise scam case is imaginary, it should immediately go to the Supreme Court, he said.

The AAP is jittery because it fears that the scam’s “kingpin” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal may also be in jail, he claimed. If the CBI and the ED work honestly, the opposition alliance (INDIA) feel the heat, he said, dubbing the bloc as ‘ghamndia’.

All these “corrupt” parties have come together and forgotten what they used to call each other earlier, Bhatia said, noting that the Delhi unit of the Congress had welcomed Sisodia’s arrest.

“What is the Congress’ stand now,” he said, playing on the unease among Delhi Congress leaders over their party sharing space with the AAP as part of the INDIA alliance against the BJP in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

“Kejriwal thought he is above law. But the message is that no one is above law. If an official does wrong, then he will be acted against. Such an action does not mitigate the charges against the accuses in the scam,” he said.