New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged in writing to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that Aam Aadmi Party received more than Rs 7 crore foreign funds, which the Delhi party termed as conspiracy to defame it, The Indian Express reported.
Following the ED’s charge that AAP received the money in contravention of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), AAP said that it is an old issue and has already responded to the authorities.
The ED’s the Director SK Mishra wrote to the MHA first time on October 27, 2022 after it recovered some documents and emails during a probe into a drug case-related money laundering case against former Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Khaira, who is now with the Congress party, was arrested in 2021 by ED in the money laundering case linked to 2015 drug case and was later granted bail in 2022. The Supreme Court in February 2023 quashed the summoning order against him.
ED Joint Director Jitendra Kumar Gogia in a detailed communication on August 4 last year to one of the directors of the FCRA division in the MHA flagged the alleged violations by AAP.
“It has been learnt that the ED recently shared some fresh inputs in this case with the MHA,” a source was quoted as saying.
As per Section 29B of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and Section 3 of the FCRA, foreign contributions to political parties are not allowed, meaning only Indian citizens or companies can do so.
The ED’s communication with the MHA came out two weeks after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended an NIA probe against Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned extremist organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
The recommendation for probe came after one Ashoo Mongia of the World Hindu Federation complained that SFJ leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun claimed in a video following Kejriwal’s arrest that AAP had received $16 million from Khalistani groups between 2014 and 2022.
However, AAP Delhi minister Atishi on Monday claimed that the AAP since its formations has received every single rupee donation with complete transparency, adding it has ‘given the account of every single rupee donation with complete transparency to the Election Commission, Income Tax Department, to every institution in the country… The allegations that are being made today are long-forgotten… AAP has already replied to ED, CBI, MHA, Election Commission.”
AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said “This issue is old and over, the question arises why this issue is being raised by the BJP again today.”