Delhi court admits CBI’s excise charge sheet, summons accused

A Delhi court on Thursday took cognisance of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charge sheet filed against seven people in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in Delhi’s 2021-22 excise policy, ad said that sufficient grounds have been found to proceed further against the accused

A Delhi court on Thursday took cognisance of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charge sheet filed against seven people in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in Delhi’s 2021-22 excise policy, ad said that sufficient grounds have been found to proceed further against the accused.

New Delhi, India - Oct. 25, 2018: An outside view of CBI headquarters at CGO Complex, in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, October 25, 2018. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/ Hindustan Times) (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Special judge MK Nagpal noted that various incriminating facts and circumstances showing the existence of a criminal conspiracy and its execution to achieve the illegal objective have also been specifically alleged in the charge sheet.

The court summoned the seven -- Aam Aadmi Party’s communication strategist Vijay Nair, lobbyist Abhishek Boinpally, businessmen Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Gautam and Sameer Mahendru, and former Delhi excise department officials Kuldeep Singh and Narender Singh, and asked them to appear before the court on January 3, the next date of hearing.

“After going through the contents of charge sheet, statements of witnesses recorded and the oral and documentary evidence collected during the course of investigation, cognizance of the offences as disclosed therefrom is hereby taken and since sufficient grounds have been found for proceeding further in the matter against all the 7 accused persons being sought to be prosecuted through this charge sheet, they all are directed to be summoned to face trial for the above said offences,” the court said.

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 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 its charge sheet, the CBI has claimed that the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy during the period from April 2020 onwards, while the excise policy was still under formulation, to get undue benefits by circumventing provisions of the policy and to achieve the illegal objective of cartelization between liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retail vendors.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was also named in the CBI FIR, but was not made an accused in the charge sheet. Another businessman, Dinesh Arora, had turned approver during the course of the investigation.

The agency has alleged that ₹20-30 crore was arranged by one of the accused at the behest of some liquor manufacturers from south India, and this amount was transferred or transmitted by him through Arora and his associates between July and September 2021 in cash by using hawala channels.