Additional charge sheet in Delhi excise probe on Jan 6: ED to court
The ED’s submission came during a brief hearing on the bail application of Aam Aadmi Party communications in-charge Vijay Nair and businessmen Abhishek Boinpally and Binoy Babu.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday told a Delhi court that by January 6, it will file a supplementary charge sheet against all the accused arrested in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in Delhi’s 2021-22 excise policy.
The ED’s submission came during a brief hearing on the bail application of Aam Aadmi Party communications in-charge Vijay Nair and businessmen Abhishek Boinpally and Binoy Babu. The federal agency told special judge MK Nagpal that the charge sheet will be common against all the accused arrested in the case.
The court adjourned the hearing on the bail applications of Nair and Boinpally for January 4 on the request of the advocates appearing in the case, while Babu’s plea was posted for January 9 for the arguments.
“It is stated that a formal prosecution complaint against the accused persons is likely to be filed by the ED on or by January 6, 2023. Hence, at joint request, the bail applications of the accused are directed to be listed on January 4 and 9, 2023 respectively,” the judge said.
The court, meanwhile, extended their judicial custody, along with co-accused Sameer Mahendru, till January 2.
The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume based regime with a license fee one for traders, and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. The policy also introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor, a first for Delhi.
The plan, however, came to an abrupt end, with Delhi’s lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. This ultimately resulted in the policy being scrapped prematurely and being replaced by the 2020-21 regime, with the AAP alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
In August, CBI in its first information report (FIR) listed Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia as an accused in the case. It is alleged that Nair was actively involved in framing and implementation of the excise policy.
Sisodia and the AAP have dismissed the probe as a politically motivated witch-hunt.