Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday thanked his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan for speaking out against the alleged misuse of central investigative agencies against non-BJP leaders and the arrest of AAP’s Manish Sisodia by the CBI.
Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrest of Sisodia in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case, urging him to dispel the notion that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was targeted for “political reasons”. going.
His letter came on a day the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister was sent to Tihar Jail here soon after a CBI court sent him to 14-day judicial custody in the case till March 20.
In his letter, Vijayan also sought to draw the prime minister’s attention to the “voice of protest” raised by leaders of several opposition parties, including some chief ministers, over Sisodia’s arrest.
He was referring to a joint letter written to the prime minister recently by nine opposition leaders, including chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrasekhar Rao and Kejriwal, alleging “blatant misuse” of central agencies against members of the opposition.
Sharing Vijayan’s letter, Kejriwal, who is the national convenor of AAP, tweeted, “Thank you Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala Shri @pinarayivijayan ji for raising your voice against illegal arrests of leaders across India.”
The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26 in connection with the alleged scam in the formulation of the now-cancelled excise policy for 2021-22.
“While refraining from commenting on the merits of the case under investigation, I wish to state that the arrest of Sisodia lends credence to certain actions of the central investigative agencies,” the Kerala chief minister said in his letter.
He said that it is the golden principle of natural justice that justice should not only be done but should also appear to be done.
Vijayan said Sisodia is the elected representative of the people and has been appearing before the probe agencies in response to their summons.
He said, “As per the information coming in public domain, there is no “incriminating evidence” such as cash seizure against Sisodia so far during the investigation of the case.
“Unless the arrest was mandatory to prevent obstruction of the investigation, it would have been a desirable course of action to avoid,” Vijayan said.
While the law has to take its course, he said, it is equally important that “there is a widespread perception that Sisodia is being targeted for political reasons and this needs to be dispelled.”
Vijayan said, “In this matter, I am hopeful that the Prime Minister’s guidance will go a long way in changing the present perception, which is reflected in the letter of important political leaders, including some chief ministers, in this matter.”
(The above article is taken from news agency PTI. Zeenews.com has not made any editorial changes in the article. News agency PTI is solely responsible for the content of the article)