New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday night granted approval to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute the Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in the liquor excise policy case. The development came days ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections 2025. In December last year, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena gave his nod to prosecute the AAP Chief in the case.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court had directed the ED to take prior permission to prosecute public servants. After this, the ED wrote to Saxena for his approval alleging that Kejriwal is the "kingpin" of the alleged scam.

Last year, Kejriwal moved the Delhi High Court against the trial court's decision to take cognizance of the ED's chargesheet in the alleged excise policy scam as there was no specific sanction under the PMLA.

The case is related to the now scrapped liquor excise policy implemented by the AAP government in November 2021. As per the policy, the Delhi government proposed an increase in the annual liquor vending license fee from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. It was scrapped in 2022 after Saxena ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in the policy.

Notably, the then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was heading the excise department when the policy liquor excise policy was introduced in Delhi. The report highlighted that Sisodia ignored recommendations by the expert panel over the policy. A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, released earlier this month, pointed out several “lapses" in the policy. The CAG report claimed that Rs 2,026 crore loss was incurred to the exchequer due to the implementation of the now scrapped Delhi liquor policy.

AAP bigwigs including the former Delhi CM, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Sisodia and former Delhi minister Satyendra Jain were arrested in connection with the case. They all are now out on bail, but the probe is still underway.

Kejriwal was was first arrested by the ED in March last year in connection to the money laundering case. Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him in June in a corruption case. In September 2024, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal.

Telangana CM KCR's daughter and BRS MLC K Kavitha was also arrested by the ED in connection with the case in March last year. Later in April of the same year, she was arrested by the CBI.