Fabricated emails used to ‘manipulate’ public response on excise policy: CBI

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged in its chargesheet that former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia used fabricated emails with help from Delhi Minority Commission chairman Zakir Khan to “manipulate the process” of seeking comments/suggestions from public and stakeholders regarding the now-withdrawn excise policy.

The agency has claimed that the mails were sent by interns of the Delhi Minorities Commission on the dedicated email ID of the excise department — excise.policy@delhi.gov.in — with a copy to Sisodia on his email address on January 14-15, 2021.

CBI has alleged that the suggestions given in these emails — about allotment of liquor licences through auction of zones, reduction of excise and VAT and enhancement of licence fees and increase in liquor vends — were handed over by Sisodia to Khan in a handwritten note with a direction that multiple emails on the said lines were to be sent to the dedicated email address.

"It is to be mentioned that these provisions were ultimately incorporated in the then new excise policy and which were in complete variance of the recommendations of the expert committee, which proves that the accused, Sisodia, was working with a pre-conceived idea for formulation of the excise policy and was planting the manufactured public opinions and suggestions in support of the same," the chargesheet claims.

The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday took cognizance of the supplementary chargesheet filed by CBI and issued summons to Sisodia and three other accused for June 2. This chargesheet was filed on April 25.

The Delhi government didn’t respond to queries on the matter.

CBI has also said in the chargesheet that Sisodia ignored the recommendations of two former CJIs for the liquor policy, who had asked to retain the earlier policy.

"It has been revealed that after the cabinet meeting on January 28, 2021, Sisodia called excise officer Rahul Singh and expressed his anger for incorporating the comments of legal experts in the cabinet note. The said file of the cabinet note was neither handed over to the excise officials after the meeting nor returned to the excise department," the chargesheet claims, while alleging that Sisodia deliberately misplaced the file.

"Eight-to-10 meetings of group of ministers, headed by Sisodia, were held, but no proper minutes or records of discussions of the said meetings were prepared. No study regarding the 12% profit margin for wholesalers (L1 licensee) was conducted," the CBI alleged.

CBI claimed that its investigation further revealed that between January 2020 and August 2022, Sisodia used three mobile handsets. The last handset used by him was seized during searches on August 19, 2022. "The two handsets which were used prior to July 22, 2022, have been admittedly destroyed by Sisodia, as confirmed by him in his response to a notice under Section 91 CrPC,” the chargesheet claimed.


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