'Planted Lie': AAP As ED Attaches Assets Worth Rs 52 Cr of Sisodia, Others

Delhi Minister Manish Sisodia and CM Arvind Kejriwal

(Photo: PTI)

Countering claims of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) having attached properties worth Rs 52.24 crore to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in a case of money laundering related to the now scrapped excise policy, the AAP on Saturday, 7 July called it "another shameful lie by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."

Calling it "fake news planted by the BJP" the AAP said: "Today Modi's government has attached 2 flats taken by Manish Sisodia ji and his wife. One flat was taken for 5 lakhs in 2005 and another for 65 lakhs in 2018. Apart from this, a bank account containing Rs 11 lakhs has also been attached. This amount is 81 lakhs in total, and this entire amount has nothing to do with the Excise Policy of Delhi."

Sharing pictures of ED's provisional order on social media that shows attachment of properties worth Rs 81 lakh, the AAP said that the government has no evidence of Manish Sisodia taking any property or any cash, "but still they have put him in jail for the last 4 months."

'Hard-Earned Money': What AAP Said

The AAP claimed that Sisodia's flat in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, was bought in 2005 for Rs 5.07 lakh, while his wife's flat in Mayur Vihar, Delhi, was bought in 2018 for Rs 65 lakh. Both flats were purchased before 2018, when the excise policy did not exist, the party said.

Addressing the media, AAP leader Atishi said: "Sisodia Ji was a journalist in 2005, bought a house with hard earned money, and joined politics 18 years ago. The BJP should tell on what basis it is claiming that the house was made from the earnings of the Excise Policy."

What the ED Claimed

According to Livemint, The probe agency reportedly said that they have attached Rs 52 crore worth of assets to Sisodia, his wife and some other accused in the case.

According to the probe agency, it attached immovable properties worth Rs 7.29 crore comprising two assets of Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia, land/flat of another accused Rajesh Joshi (director of Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd.) and land/flat of Gautam Malhotra.

The movable assets are worth Rs 44.29 crore, including Sisodia's bank balance of Rs 11.49 lakh and that of Brindco Sales Pvt. Ltd. of Rs 16.45 crore, among others.

The ED has so far arrested 12 individuals and filed five charge sheets, based on a CBI FIR against Sisodia and others on 17 August, last year. Sisodia was arrested on 26 February by the CBI and later arrested on 9 March by the ED and is currently in judicial custody.