More trouble for AAP: ED now summons Delhi Transport minister Kailash Gahlot

There is more trouble for the ruling AAP government in Delhi. After Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now after Delhi Transport minister Kailash Gahlot. According to news agency PTI, Gahlot has been summoned for questioning on Saturday regarding a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy for the capital.

Kailash Gehlot, 49, is the AAP MLA from Najafgarh, Delhi. He is the minister for transport, home and law in the Delhi government.

AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Arvind Kejriwal are already in jail over similar charges in the case.

ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21, hours after the Delhi high court refused to protect him from arrest over the excise policy.

The ED claimed that AAP leaders received kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore in the excise policy. Kejriwal's name has also been mentioned multiple times in the charge sheets filed by the ED. The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the excise policy.

As per charges levelled by ED, the scrapped policy provided an impossibly high profit margin of nearly 185 per cent for retailers and 12 per cent for wholesalers. Of the latter, six per cent - over ₹ 600 crore - was recovered as bribes and the money was allegedly used to fund the Goa and Punjab poll campaigns.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a probe into the irregularities in its formulation and implementation.