Congress Demands Apology From Modi, Kejriwal After ED’s Closure Report in 2010 CWG Case

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday (April 28) has sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling out “political persecution” after a court in Delhi accepted the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) closure report in a money laundering case against Suresh Kalmadi, the former head of the organising committee of 2010 Commonwealth Games and then secretary general Lalit Bhanot and others.

Demanding an apology, Congress MP and general secretary media and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh in a statement said that former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit “were falsely accused” by Modi and Kejriwal.

“Before 2014, Arvind Kejriwal and the BJP teamed up to fabricate scams like 2G and Commonwealth to defame the Congress. Two very honest and dedicated leaders – Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Sheila Dixit – were falsely accused,” he said.

“The truth of 2G has already come out in the court. Today, the court has accepted the ED's closure report in the Commonwealth case as well. Clearly – both allegations were false! Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal should apologize to the Congress and the people of India for misleading the country.”

The 2010 Commonwealth Games saw allegations of corruption against the then-Congress led UPA government. The India Against Corruption Movement, which Kejriwal was then a part of, was born against the corruption scams in the UPA government. While several cases were filed in the probe into the corruption allegations in CWG Games, Kalmadi and others were accused of misconduct in the award and execution of two important contracts for the games.

Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal noted the CBI had already closed the corruption case, based on which the ED started its money laundering probe and accepted the report, PTI reported.

"Since during the investigations, the prosecution has failed to make out a offence under section 3 (money laundering) of the PMLA... as no offence under section 3 of the PMLA has been made out or has been committed, despite discreet investigations by the ED, therefore, there is no reason to continue with the present ECIR, as a consequence, the closure report filed by the ED stands accepted," the judge was quoted as saying while accepting the closure report.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that the cases were “never about justice” but “political persecution”. He also demanded an apology.

“These cases were never about justice; they were about political persecution, headlines over substance, and deflecting attention from their own failures. The collapse of these manufactured cases is not just a legal victory, it is a moral and political indictment of the BJP's politics of false narrative,” he said.

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