Excise case: Properties in Jor Bagh, Mumbai among targets in ED swoop

Vijay Nair’s house worth ₹1.77 crore in Crescent Bay, Parel (Mumbai), businessman Sameer Mahendru and his wife Geetika Mahendru’s properties in Delhi’s upscale Jor Bagh area were among those attached by the agency.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth ₹76.54 crore, including the Aam Aadmi Party’s communication in-charge Vijay Nair’s house worth ₹1.77 crore in Crescent Bay, Parel (Mumbai), businessman Sameer Mahendru and his wife Geetika Mahendru’s residential properties worth ₹35 crore in Delhi’s upscale Jor Bagh area, among others, in the Delhi excise policy scam, the agency said on Wednesday.

Businessman Sameer Mahedru’s property in upscale Jor Bagh area of Delhi were among the assets attached by Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi Excise Policy case. (HT Photo)

Besides properties belonging to Nair and the Mahendrus, the federal anti-money laundering agency has attached liquor businessman Amit Arora’s residence worth ₹7.68 crore in Magnolias, Gurugram; three restaurants “Chica”, “La Roca” and “Unplugged Courtyard” worth ₹3.18 crore owned by Dinesh Arora; as well as a land parcel worth ₹2.25 crore in Vattinagulapalle, Hyderabad, owned by businessman Arun Pillai and 50 vehicles worth ₹10.23 crore owned by Mahendru’s Indospirit Group and bank deposits, fixed deposits, and other financial instruments worth ₹14.39 crore of various people.

Pillai, according to the ED charge sheet in the case, worked for an alleged “south lobby”, which got liquor licences in Delhi while Dinesh Arora is an approver in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case.

“Investigation by ED revealed that acts of corruption and conspiracy in the formulation and implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 led to the loss of at least Rs. 2873 Crore to the government exchequer. Proceeds of Crime generated by the activities relating to the scheduled offence u/s 7 of PC (prevention of corruption) Act, 2018 and 120 B of IPC, to the tune of ₹76.54 Crore has been traced so far and have been attached,” ED said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Till date, the ED has conducted searches on multiple locations across the country including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and other places. After analysis of seized records followed by the disclosures of various persons, the above diversion of POC (proceeds of crime) has been unearthed. Six accused - Vijay Nair, Sameer Mahandru, Amit Arora, Sarath Reddy, Benoy Babu and Abhishek Boinpally have been arrested. All are currently in judicial custody,” the statement added.

HT first reported on Wednesday that ED has attached properties of accused persons in the case.

The federal anti-money laundering agency had, in first week of this month, filed its second charge sheet against five individuals, including Vijay Nair, and seven companies into the alleged irregularities in the suspended Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

The other four individuals named in the charge sheet include Abhishek Boinpally, an alleged consultant who lobbied for the alleged “south lobby”, Aurobindo Pharma’s promoter P Sarath Chandra Reddy, Pernod Ricard’s manager Benoy Babu and owner of Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd, Amit Arora.

The first charge sheet was filed by ED in the case against businessman Sameer Mahendru in November last year.

ED is yet to name Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in any of the charge sheets but investigations against him and other named persons in the case are continuing, it has said.

In its first charge sheet, filed on November 26 last year, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in which only businessman Sameer Mahendru and his firms were named, the federal agency had claimed that Mahendru had formed a “super cartel” with the alleged “south lobby” to control nine out of 32 retail zones in Delhi’s liquor business.

The agency had also termed Vijay Nair as the one who “orchestrated the entire scam”, while alleging that he received advance kickbacks worth ₹100 crore from the alleged “south lobby”, comprising Andhra Pradesh member of Parliament (MP) and YSR Congress leader Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, Telangana MLC and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha, who is the daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, and businessman Sarath Reddy, promoter of the Aurobindo Group.

Sisodia has been named as the primary accused both by ED and CBI in the case. However, ED is yet to question him and officials familiar with the probe said he is likely to be called for questioning soon.

All those named by ED have denied the allegations against them.

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales volume-based regime with a licence 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, ended abruptly, with lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending a CBI probe into the 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.