Delhi high court issues notice on ED plea against bail to 2 in excise case

Additional solicitor general SV Raju, who appeared for ED, also asked the high court to bar the accused from using the observations and findings by the special judge in any proceedings.

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court’s sharp observations on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) allegations against two accused in the Delhi excise policy case last week cannot be cited by the other co-accused to seek relief in any proceedings, the Delhi high court ordered on Wednesday on a petition by ED.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members stage a protest to demand release of Manish Sisodia, who is in custody in the now-scrapped excise policy (ANI File Photo)

The federal agency has also asked the high court to cancel the bail granted to the two accused, Gautam Malhotra and Rajesh Joshi, by Delhi special judge MK Nagpal, on Saturday. A single bench of justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma also issued notice to the two accused and asked them to file their reply. Additional solicitor general SV Raju, who appeared for ED, also asked the high court to bar the accused from using the observations and findings by the special judge in any proceedings.

Punjab-based liquor businessman Gautam Malhotra and Rajesh Joshi, the owner of Chariot Production Media Pvt Ltd, were arrested by ED in February this year. ED claimed that Malhotra, son of former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Deep Malhotra, was part of a cartel formed by liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Joshi, on the other hand, was alleged to be a close associate of another co-accused Vijay Nair, and was alleged to have helped launder money by creating fake invoices channelised illegal kickbacks through expenditures borne by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in connection with the 2022 Goa assembly elections through his media agency.

In his orders on their bail, judge MK Nagpal said the prosecution’s case against Gautam Malhotra was based on oral and documentary evidence that “cannot be prima facie considered to be a genuine case”. On the charges against Joshi, the judge said it was of the prima facie view that the evidence against Joshi was not sufficient to make it believe that the case against him was genuine or that he was going to be held guilty of the offence of money laundering.

The judge’s assessment of the ED case against the two accused was immediately cited by top AAP leaders including chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who insist that its party leaders including former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia have been framed by federal agencies at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Delhi education minister Atishi on Sunday cited the special judge’s 85-page bail order which she said, established that the ED and CBI don’t have any proof that there was a scam. “The judge only says one thing again and again in the order, that no evidence has been provided by ED in the case,” she said, adding that this was the case despite the two agencies deploying over 500 officers to investigate the case for six months.

On Monday, Kejriwal said in a post on Twitter: “Now even Ccurt has said that there is no material evidence of any kickback or money laundering. We have been saying right from beginning that entire liquor scam is bogus and meant only to malign AAP”.

In response, the BJP stressed that the same judge, on an earlier date, rejected the bail application of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and observed that he was “prima facie the architect of the criminal conspiracy”. “They should stop giving certificates of honesty to themselves,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said.