New Delhi:

A search is underway at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh’s house in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy case. Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials reached the Rajya Sabha MP’s Delhi house early morning.

Mr Singh is the latest AAP leader to be under the central agencies’ scanner in the liquor policy case after Manish Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister in the AAP government in Delhi, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February.

The excise policy case was filed in connection with the Delhi government’s liquor policy of 2021 that was later scrapped. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also questioned for nearly nine hours in the same case in April.

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— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 4, 2023

Mr Singh had months earlier put up posters outside his house to “welcome” ED officials. The AAP shared the photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, with fire emojis in response to the searches.

The BJP stated it has been saying that the AAP has looted the people of Delhi. “They made crores through this liquor policy,” said Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva.

Sanjay Singh’s father said the probe agency is doing its work and he will cooperate with them. “I will wait for the time when he (Mr Singh) gets clearance,” he told reporters.

Businessman Dinesh Arora, one of the approvers in the case, had claimed that Mr Singh introduced him to Mr Sisodia, the then excise minister. But he was never named as an accused by the ED, which has filed three chargesheets in the case. He was neither summoned nor was his statement recorded in this connection, though the contents of the chargesheets made references to him.

The CBI contends that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have led to a 12 per cent profit for the firms. The agency alleged that a liquor lobby it dubbed the “South Group” had paid kickbacks for it. Of the proposed 12 per cent profit, six per cent was routed to public servants through middlemen, the agency claimed.

The ED is probing into the alleged laundering of the kickbacks.

After the policy was scrapped, the BJP said the Delhi government went back to the old liquor policy to cover up the corruption. Mr Sisodia had denied any wrongdoing and his party said his arrest was an “attack on the Delhi model of governance”.

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh announced his intention to raise the issue of the Old Pension Scheme in Parliament when his membership in the Rajya Sabha is revoked.

He expressed his concern for the employees of the country who have been advocating for the restoration of the old pension scheme and questioned the system where MLAs and MPs receive pensions for their entire lives while employees who have worked for 40 years are denied such benefits.

Addressing a rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Sanjay Singh said, “The employees of the country opened a front against the Modi government regarding the restoration of old pension. MLAs and MPs get pensions for their whole life even if they work for 40 days. Why no pension for an employee who has worked for 40 years? I will raise this issue before Parliament after my membership gets revoked. Arvind Kejriwal’s slogan is where AAP rules there is an old pension.”

Earlier employees of central and state government and public sector undertakings (PSUs) held a protest at Ramlila Maidan here on Sunday, demanding the reinstatement of the old pension scheme (OPS) by the central government and expressed their dissatisfaction with the current National Pension Scheme (NPS).

The protest named ‘Pension Shankhnaad Maharally‘ was organised under the aegis of the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) to put pressure on the Union government to nix the existing National Pension Scheme (NPS) and bring back the OPS.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties have supported the demands of the protesters and asked the BJP government at the Centre to bring back the OPS.

“Old pension is the right of the employees. State governments led by Congress have restored the old pension scheme. Our policy regarding this is clear – employees must get their rights. Modi government should restore the old pension, and honour the workers who serve the country,” Congress said earlier.

States like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have announced the bringing back of OPS. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that his party strongly supports bringing back OPS, adding that NPS (New Pension Scheme) is an “injustice against employees”.

Under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement. The monthly pension is typically half of the last drawn salary of the person.

Under the new pension scheme, employees contribute a portion of their salaries to the pension fund. Based on that, they are entitled to a one-time lump sum amount on superannuation.

The old pension scheme was discontinued in December 2003, and the new pension scheme came into effect on April 1, 2004.

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