Not named as accused or suspect in any ED complaint in Delhi excise policy case: Raghav Chadha

NEW DELHI: AAP leader Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said media reports that claimed he has been named as an accused in a charge sheet filed by the ED in a Delhi Excise policy-linked case were “factually wrong” and appear to be part of a “propaganda” to harm his reputation and credibility.

In a supplementary charge sheet filed in a money-laundering case linked to the excise policy, the ED has accused the AAP of using a part of the Rs 100 crore kickbacks allegedly received from the ‘south group’ liquor lobby to meet its expenditure for the Goa Assembly poll campaign in 2022.

The charge sheet carried the name of Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP, as part of a statement of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s Secretary C Arvind. He was not named as an accused in it.

“…that at Dy CM’s (Sisodia’s) residence there was a meeting of Raghav Chadha, ACS Finance of Punjab Govt, Excise Commissioner, Varun Roojam, FCT and officers from Punjab Excise where Vijay Nair was also present,” the ED said.

Some media reports claimed Chadha had been “named” in the charge sheet.

Addressing a press conference, Chadha termed such reports false and malicious.

“News articles and reportage stating that I have been named as an accused in a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate are factually wrong, incorrect, motivated and appear to be propaganda to harm my reputation and credibility by misleading and using the media. I wish to clarify that I have not been named as an accused or as a suspect, or even as a witness, in any of the complaints filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the ongoing investigation,” he said.

He challenged the media houses “who have carried this false propaganda to show any shred of evidence against me in any investigation carried out by any of these agencies controlled by the BJP”.

“The least the media could have done was to be consistent with the journalistic norms and could have taken my version before making these false claims and reporting this false reportage. The reputation and credibility of a person is very precious and is built over time. I appeal to the media and all my friends sitting in this chamber to clarify the stated position, lest I will be constrained to take legal action as has been advised by my lawyers,” he said.

He alleged the investigation conducted so far is “politically motivated” and its aim is to break the Aam Aadmi Party and end the political career of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.