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Raghav Chadha’s name mentioned in ED's Delhi excise policy chargesheet; AAP MP reacts
Raghav Chadha clarified that he has not been named as an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha's name has been mentioned in the Enforcement Directorate's second supplementary chargesheet in the money laundering case pertaining to the alleged Delhi liquor excise policy scam. Reacting to some media reports, Chadha clarified that he has not been named as an accused in the case.
In a supplementary chargesheet, the ED has accused the AAP of using a part of the ₹100 crore kickbacks allegedly received from the ‘south group’ liquor lobby to meet its expenditure for the Goa assembly poll campaign in 2022.
The chargesheet carried the name of Chadha, as part of a statement of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s Secretary C Arvind. He was not named as an accused in it.
“…that at Dy CM’s (Sisodia’s) residence there was a meeting of Raghav Chadha, ACS Finance of Punjab Govt, Excise Commissioner, Sh Varun Roojam, FCT and officers from Punjab Excise where Vijay Nair was also present,” the ED said.
This is the only reference to him in the chargesheet, which the court took cognizance of on Monday.
"News articles/reportage stating that I have been named as an accused in a complaint filed by the enforcement directorate are factually wrong, incorrect and appears to be part of a malicious propaganda to harm my reputation and credibility.
“I have not been named as an accused or even a suspect in any of the complaints filed by the enforcement directorate. There are no allegations whatsoever against me in the said complaints. It appears that in the complaint my name is mentioned as an attendee to some meeting though the basis of making such an allegation is not clear. I vehemently and unequivocally deny commission of any alleged offence in any manner, in relation to the said meeting or otherwise. I request the media and publication houses not to cause any incorrect reporting and clarify this issue, lest I will be constrained to take legal action,” Chadha said in the statement.
The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Monday took cognizance of two prosecution complaints filed by the ED in the money laundering case.
The prosecution complaints were against Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Rajesh Joshi, Amandeep Dhal, Gautam Malhotra, Raghav Magunta and related entities.
The special judge MK Nagpal took cognizance of the chargesheets (Prosecution Complaints) and directed to produce all naming accused on May 10, 2023.
Further investigation is continuing to investigate the role of the accused name in ECIR and other persons on various allegations, the court informed the ED.
Advocates Zohaib Hossain and Naveen Kumar Matta appeared for ED. The ED stated that there was sufficient evidence on record to establish the charge of commission of the offence of money laundering against these accused.
Earlier, the first supplementary chargesheet named 12 accused identified as Vijay Nair, Sharath Reddy, Binoy Babu, Abhishek Boinpally, Amit Arora and seven companies. The first chargesheet was filed by the ED in the case against Sameer Mahendru and his related firms.
The ED has yet to file the chargesheet against Manish Sisodia who was arrested on March 9, 2023.
The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval. The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.
The FIR in the case was instituted on a reference from the Union home ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
