Delhi excise case: CBI files first charge sheet against Manish Sisodia, 3 others

The agency has also added the “destruction of evidence” charge under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as the investigation has revealed that Sisodia had destroyed his phones

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia and three others alleging that jailed former deputy chief minister of Delhi “misused” his official position and dishonestly introduced changes to monopolize the wholesale and retail liquor trade in Delhi.

Sisodia was arrested on February 26 after almost eight hours of interrogation. (PTI file image)

This is its second charge sheet in the case, but the first that names Sisodia, who has been in custody since late February.

The agency has charged Sisodia, Arjun Pandey (an alleged middleman), Butchibabu Gorantla (former auditor of K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) and Amandeep Singh Dhall (director of Brindco Sales Pvt Ltd) under sections 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 7, 7A, 8 and 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act (which deal with paying and receiving of bribes to/by public servant).

Besides, the agency has added the “destruction of evidence” charge under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as the investigation has revealed that Sisodia had destroyed his phones.

A council of ministers’ note prepared after incorporating recommendations of the expert committee and a legal opinion are also “untraceable”, which officials said amounts to destruction of evidence.

Sisodia was arrested on February 26 after almost eight hours of interrogation.

Gorantla, arrested on February 7, allegedly represented the interests of the alleged ‘South Group’ that got nine retail zones in Delhi while Dhall, taken into custody last week, was in close contact with AAP’s communications in-charge Vijay Nair and was arranging meetings with liquor manufacturing and distribution companies.

Pandey, a Gurugram resident who was named in the CBI first information report (FIR) filed on August 17 last year and allegedly worked as a conduit for Nair, has not been arrested in the case yet.

Sharing details of the charge sheet, CBI’s second in the case and first against Sisodia, a senior officer said - “Ample evidence and statements of key witnesses have been included in the charge sheet to establish that Sisodia is the main architect and kingpin in the entire excise policy formulation and implementation.”

“He introduced favorable provisions in the policy to facilitate the monopolization of wholesale and retail liquor trade in Delhi for the South Group for siphoning off 6% out of 12% windfall profit margin for the wholesalers. The favour was given in lieu of upfront kickbacks worth ₹90-100 crore paid by the South Group,” an official said, citing details mentioned in the charge sheet.

This officer said the statement of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, recorded on April 16 as a ‘witness’, has also been incorporated in the charge sheet.

The first charge sheet was filed in November last year against Nair, Abhishek Boinpally (a businessman who lobbied for the South Group), Sameer Mahendru (managing director of Jor Bagh based liquor distributor Indospirit Group), Arun Ramchandra Pillai (Telangana based businessman and an associate of Boinpally), Mootha Gautam (managing director of India Ahead News) and two government servants – Kuldeep Singh (former deputy excise commissioner of Delhi) and Narendra Singh (former assistant excise commissioner).

The agency informed the Delhi high court last week while opposing Sisodia’s bail plea that the former deputy CM “misused his official position and dishonestly introduced changes to the excise policy under the influence of South Group, through his close associate Vijay Nair”.

The changes, it said, “not only facilitated the cartelization of the liquor trade in Delhi by South Group but also enabled it to recover the kickbacks paid by them upfront”.

“As part of the conspiracy, Sisodia increased the wholesale profit margin from 5% to 12% without any cogent reason or justification. Investigation has revealed that the South Group was to recoup the money by way of such an increased profit margin (6% commission to be paid to the South Group from 12% profit margin set in policy),” CBI said in high court.

In the charge sheet, the agency further claimed the changes in policy were made by Sisodia with “malafide intention in utter disregard to the recommendations by an expert committee headed by then excise commissioner Ravi Dhawan, as well as opinions received from legal experts (when these recommendations were put in public domain) since the same did not favour the South Group”.

The file containing the cabinet note containing reference to such opinion of the legal experts is missing till date, it added.

Besides, CBI has claimed that Sisodia “threatened and pressurized various officials including the excise commissioners, when they did not accede to his directions”.

It told the high court that the CM and the cabinet ministers have, during course of investigation, “confirmed that the policy was formulated by Sisodia and governed solely by the excise personnel, which ministry was headed by him”.

CBI has claimed in the charge sheet that out of ₹90-100 crore bribe money, ₹30 crore was paid through hawala channels using Dinesh Arora, who was allegedly close to Sisodia. Subsequently, cash payments through hawala channel were made by Nair to vendors engaged by AAP for Goa assembly election 2022.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel money laundering probe in the excise policy, has so far filed three charge sheets in the case and Sisodia is not named in any.

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalize 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 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 AAP alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.