Arrested AAP ministers Sisodia and Jain resign from Kejriwal Cabinet

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both of whom are under arrest in cases of alleged corruption, resigned from the Delhi Cabinet today.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accepted their resignations. However, AAP claimed that the resignations were not an acceptance of guilt in any way but an administrative step to ensure that governance of Delhi did not suffer.

The resignations came soon after the BJP questioned why the arrested leaders were still holding the post of ministers in the Delhi government.

Manish Sisodia’s departments will be handled by Kailash Gehlot. Sisodia was the Deputy Chief Minister and held charge of 18 ministries in the Delhi government, including the health portfolio of Satyendar Jain, who has been in jail for the last 10 months.

Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on Sunday over allegations of corruption in the Delhi liquor excise policy case.

AAP supremo Kejriwal had until today refused to sack the ministers.

When Satyendar Jain was arrested in May by the Enforcement Directorate over allegations of money laundering as a follow-up to a CBI case, Kejriwal had transferred his departments to Sisodia.

A special Delhi court on Monday sent Sisodia to five-day CBI remand in the excise policy case to allow the agency to get “genuine and legitimate” answers to questions being put to him for “a proper and fair investigation.”

On Tuesday, Sisodia moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the excise policy case, claiming that he had cooperated in the investigation and the arrest is illegal. However, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha refused to entertain Sisodia’s petition and ruled that he had access to remedies before the trial court concerned as well as the Delhi High Court.