The Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that 58 businesses were registered at the address of its national office in New Delhi and sought an investigation. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the registrations, made between July 19 and September 15, could have been used to build a narrative that the party operated shell companies and received money from drug traffickers ahead of the 2027 Punjab elections.
Bharadwaj made the allegations at a press conference. He said the registrations were made at the 1, Canning Lane address and questioned how businesses could use the address of a government-allotted residence.
Questions over registration process
Bharadwaj said GST registration involves Aadhaar OTP authentication and documents for the stated premises. He said applicants may have to provide ownership-related utility or property tax documents, or a rent agreement, electricity bill and no-objection certificate when premises are shown as rented.
He argued that the address should have raised questions during verification because, according to him, the location is a government bungalow.
The AAP leader said all 58 businesses were registered at the same address under different names. He cited GST registration 07AHKPC920F3ZJ, whose legal name he identified as Vikas Chaudhary and trade name as Priyanka. He also listed registrations associated with Asha Enterprises, Mohammad Ahmad, Faizan Ahmad, Mohammad Asad Qureshi, Afzal, Mohammad Dilshad, Safia Khanam, Seema Parveen, Kashif Siddiqui, Sarfaraz and Mohammad Faizan. He said the stated business activity included import-export.
Election allegations cited
Bharadwaj alleged that the registrations were connected to a planned campaign against AAP before the Punjab elections. He claimed the BJP government would have publicised allegations that the party was receiving crores of rupees from drug traffickers and operating hundreds of shell companies.
He also referred to allegations before the 2022 Punjab elections that AAP had received funds from Khalistanis, and to accusations during the Delhi elections concerning an alleged liquor scam. Bharadwaj claimed those allegations did not result in the outcomes he described.
He said AAP submitted a complaint on September 19 to the Principal Chief Commissioner of GST, the Commissioner of Trade and Taxes and the New Delhi Police Commissioner. He said no response had been received.
Bharadwaj sought details of the registration process, including Aadhaar verification, servers and computers used, and officials who may have conducted physical verification. He also asked authorities to examine the dates of the registrations and the basis on which the premises were verified. AAP said the registration details and Aadhaar verification records were also available on the GST website.
