The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will run the government from jail if he is arrested in the coming days, reported PTI.
All the party leaders unanimously agreed that even if the Bharatiya Janata Party sends Kejriwal to jail through some conspiracy, he must not resign, said AAP minister Atishi. The decision was taken at a meeting on Monday.
“The people of Delhi have given him the mandate to run the government, even if it has to be done from jail,” Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi told PTI. “If required we will take permission from the court that important files be sent to Tihar Jail. if required we will hold a Cabinet meeting there and call the officers there.”
Atishi made the statement four days after Kejriwal skipped the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to question him in connection with the liquor excise policy case. The chief minister had written to the Enforcement Directorate urging the agency to recall the summons since he was travelling to Madhya Pradesh to campaign for the Assembly elections.
The case is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation that has alleged irregularities in the Aam Aadmi Party government’s now-scrapped excise policy. The Central Bureau of Investigation questioned Kejriwal for nearly nine hours on April 16.
The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party modified the liquor excise policy to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.
The Enforcement Directorate has also claimed that members of a so-called South Group had paid at least Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party through businessman Vijay Nair.
Last month, the two central agencies had told the Supreme Court that they were considering making the Aam Aadmi Party an accused in the Delhi liquor policy cases. They are considering doing so based on legal provisions on “vicarious liability” and section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Vicarious liability refers to criminal responsibility that a person or entity holds for the act of another person – such as, in this case, an act of a party member. Section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act deals with offences by companies or other associations of individuals.
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