The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has granted approval to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the alleged liquor scam, according to sources cited by ANI on Wednesday.

Both Kejriwal and Sisodia were granted bail by the Supreme Court last year in connection with the liquor policy case.

Separate cases have been filed against Kejriwal by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 last year after failing to respond to repeated summons. He was named in a chargesheet filed by the agency on May 17.

A special PMLA court in Delhi had paused the framing of charges against him after he moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the trial court’s cognizance of the chargesheet in the absence of a specific sanction for prosecution under the PMLA.

The ED has accused Kejriwal, Sisodia, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of accepting bribes from the ‘South Group,’ a cartel that controlled liquor sales and distribution in Delhi. The group is alleged to have profited from the excise policy implemented by the Delhi government for the 2021–22 fiscal year.

So far, the ED has conducted searches at 245 locations across the country, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai. More than a dozen individuals, including Kejriwal, Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and the party’s former media head Vijay Nair, have been arrested in connection with the case.

The ED has claimed that it identified proceeds of crime amounting to ₹1,100 crore. Kejriwal, along with Sisodia and Nair, is accused of soliciting additional funds beyond a ₹100 crore bribe to finance AAP’s election campaigns. The ED has described Kejriwal as the “kingpin” of the alleged irregularities linked to the excise policy.

(With ANI inputs)