Manish Sisodia Will Fully Cooperate With Excise Policy Probe: AAP

Ahead of the CBI's questioning of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case, the AAP on Saturday said he will fully cooperate with the investigation and asserted that it is a "hardcore honest" party.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has prepared an exhaustive set of questions for the minister amid apprehensions of his arrest. Mr Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio in the Delhi Cabinet, was originally summoned last Sunday. He had sought deferment of his questioning, citing the ongoing budget exercise, following which the probe agency had asked him to appear on February 26.

"Tomorrow, Manish Sisodia will go for the CBI inquiry and will fully cooperate with them. In the last eight to 10 years, almost 150-200 cases have been filed against AAP leaders. But they (Centre) have not been able to prove corruption of even a single penny against our leaders. This is because the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a hardcore honest party," AAP legislator Atishi told reporters on Saturday.

Mr Sisodia has expressed apprehensions that the central investigation agencies might arrest him. "They are using the CBI to take revenge and I am sure they will do that by getting me arrested," he had alleged.

The senior AAP leader was earlier examined for a day on October 17 last year, nearly a month before the central probe agency had filed its charge sheet against seven people, including middlemen and liquor traders, in which Mr Sisodia was not listed as accused, but the agency had kept the probe into his alleged role open.

Nearly three months after filing its charge sheet, the CBI will question Mr Sisodia on various aspects of the now-scrapped excise policy, his alleged links with liquor traders, and politicians, and claims made by witnesses in their statements.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)