Last Updated: May 03, 2023, 16:44 IST
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (File photo/News18)
On April 22, Sanjay Singh sent a legal notice to the ED asking it to issue an apology, or else face civil and criminal proceedings for allegedly making false and derogatory claims against him in the excise policy case
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh in the excise policy case chargesheet by “mistake” and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to defame the “most honest party of the country”.
His reaction came after Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed that ED wrote him a letter informing him that he was named in the chargesheet by mistake.
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal wrote in Hindi, “Does anyone get named in a chargesheet by mistake? It is clear from this that the whole case is fake. Prime Minister is doing this just to defame the most honest party of the country and to stop the fastest-growing party under dirty politics. It does not suit them.”
Meanwhile, the AAP alleged the mention of Singh’s name in the chargesheet by ED was a “deliberate attempt” to defame the party and its leaders, including Kejriwal.
Earlier in the day, the party said Singh has written to the Union Finance Ministry secretary seeking sanction to prosecute ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Assistant Director Jogender Singh in connection with allegations made against him in the excise policy case.
News agency PTI quoted ED sources as saying that the name of the AAP leader appears four times in the chargesheet out of which one reference was wrong and typed inadvertently. They said the agency has moved a petition in the court to rectify the anomaly in the prosecution complaint (chargesheet).
Addressing a press conference, Delhi Cabinet minister and AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED have become “synonyms for harassment, fear, torture, threatening and defaming someone”.
“AAP MP Sanjay Singh had announced that he will file a criminal defamation case against two ED officials because they put his name in the charge sheet and later revealed to media that even Sanjay Singh is involved in this concocted scam,” he said.
Bharadwaj accused the ED of scaring the opposition parties and claimed that they had “apologised to Sanjay Singh”. “This is the first time that the ED director had to apologise to someone. In a way, Centre had to apologise to Sanjay Singh and the AAP,” he said.
On April 22, Sanjay Singh sent a legal notice to the ED asking it to issue an apology, or else face civil and criminal proceedings for allegedly making false and derogatory claims against him in the excise policy case.
An ED counsel wrote to Sanjay Singh’s lawyer on April 29 saying that “instead of Rahul Singh, Sanjay Singh was inadvertently mentioned at only one reference”. “The said application for correction is much prior to the date of the present notice (Sanjay Singh’s notice to the ED on April 22), which demonstrates the bona fide of the agency,” the ED counsel said.
(with inputs from PTI)
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