"Suing Agencies For Lying To Court": Arvind Kejriwal On CBI Summons

Courts are being lied to, those arrested are being tortured and there's not a shred of proof of any wrongdoing, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today, a day after being summoned by the CBI in the capital's liquor policy case.

Launching a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, Mr Kejriwal said agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were going to extraordinary lengths to target their fiercest political opponents.

The agencies have falsely claimed that 14 phones were destroyed, lying to the courts in affidavits, torturing suspects to extract falsified confessions and employing thuggish threats like "will see how your daughter gets to college tomorrow", he claimed.

The Chief Minister also said that despite months of investigation, and scores of arrests, including his former deputy Manish Sisodia, the agencies have not found a single penny of ill-gotten wealth that they claim was amassed from the so-called liquor scam.

"When they found nothing in raids, they said the money had been funnelled into our Goa election campaign. Where is the proof of this? All our payments were made with cheques. Show me a single rupee of the Rs 100 crore you claim we got," Mr Kejriwal said.

"If I say, without proof, that I paid Prime Minister Narendra Modi Rs 1,000 crore on the 17th of September at 7 pm, will you arrest him?" the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief asked, announcing he will sue the agencies for perjury and falsifying evidence.

"The same policy, which they call corrupt, was introduced in Punjab and has resulted in a 50 per cent increase in revenue. It was a game-changing and transparent policy," Mr Kejriwal said, adding that he will appear for questioning tomorrow as asked.

The CBI is probing allegations that the liquor policy implemented by the Delhi government last year, which ended government control over the sale of liquor in the capital, gave undue advantages to private retailers.

Alleging the involvement of the "highest levels" of Mr Kejriwal's government in the swindle, the agency has claimed crores in kickbacks were paid for favours in the policy and funnelled into his party's election campaign in Goa last year.

Manish Sisodia's arrest in February was the highest-profile arrest in the case so far. The summons to Mr Kejriwal, whose political career began with the 2011 anti-corruption movement that swept the nation, comes as his 10-year-old party, recently upgraded to the status of a national outfit, tries to position itself as one of the main alternatives to PM Modi's BJP.