Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday denied the Central Bureau of Investigation’s allegation that he blamed his jailed party colleague Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case, Bar and Bench reported.

Kejriwal made the statement at a hearing in a Delhi court as the Central Bureau of Investigation sought his custody for five days. The Delhi chief minister was already in jail since March after the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped liquor policy.

At the hearing, the Central Bureau of Investigation said that it needs custodial interrogation of Kejriwal.

“He [Kejriwal] pushed the entire onus on Manish Sisodia and said he has no idea about the excise policy,” the Central Bureau of Investigation claimed. “We need to confront him with the documents that we have. We are not asking him to admit to something.”

However, Kejriwal denied the allegations and accused the Central Bureau of Investigation of maligning his party.

“I have never testified that Manish Sisodia is guilty,” Kejriwal told the court. “Manish Sisodia is innocent, AAP [Aam Aadmi Party] is innocent, I am innocent. Their [CBI’s] aim is to malign us through the media. CBI has activated its ‘sources’. All their claims are false.”

Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on February 26, 2023, in the same case. He was also later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the money-laundering case.

On Wednesday, Kejriwal accused the Central Bureau of Investigation of sensationalising the case, reported Bar and Bench.

“Their idea is to ensure that front page headlines should be 'Kejriwal has put all blame on Manish Sisodia,” Kejriwal told the court. “They want this headline in all newspapers. That is their sole aim.”

Judge Amitabh Rawat of the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court said that he agrees with Kejriwal, adding that the Central Bureau of Investigation has attributed a statement to the politician that he did not make.

On August 17, 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation booked Sisodia and 14 others alleging irregularities in the liquor policy.

The excise policy 2021-’22 was formulated on the basis of an expert committee report. Under the policy, licences of 849 liquor shops were issued to private firms through open bidding. Earlier, four government corporations ran 475 liquor stores and the remaining 389 were in private hands.

However, the policy was withdrawn by the Aam Aadmi Party government on July 30, 2022.

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering in the liquor policy case based on a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The two central agencies have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government had modified Delhi’s liquor policy by increasing the commission for wholesalers from 5% to 12%. This allegedly facilitated the receipt of bribes from wholesalers who had a substantial market share and turnover.