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FIR against ED official who got bribes to save bizman in Delhi excise case: CBI
ED assistant director Pawan Khatri and others were raided by the Enforcement Directorate in July this year. ED handed over the case to CBI after conducting its inquiry
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a corruption case against an assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and others in a ₹5 crore pay-off case for allegedly trying to save Delhi businessman Aman Dhall in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.
ED assistant director Pawan Khatri and some others were raided by ED in July and over ₹2 crore, alleged to be money received in bribes, was allegedly recovered. The financial crimes probe agency referred the matter to CBI earlier this month, which registered a case under the anti-corruption law on August 25.
Besides Dhall and Khatri, the first information report (FIR) registered by CBI has named ED’s upper division clerk Nitesh Kohar, chief executive officer of Claridges Hotels Vikramaditya, Air India employee Deepak Sangwan and chartered accountant Praveen Kumar Vats, who allegedly acted as facilitators, as well as Dhall’s father Birender Pal Singh. HT has reviewed the FIR.
ED arrested Dhall in connection with alleged irregularities in the excise policy on March 1. According to the FIR, “Sangwan, who works as an assistant general manager in Air India, had assured Vats that he can arrange help for Dhall in ED’s liquor scam case (by protecting him from arrest) in lieu of some amount of money. Sangwan introduced him to Khatri in December 2022. On the basis of assurance of Sangwan, Vats had taken ₹3 crore from Dhall in six tranches of ₹50 lakh each in December 2022-January 2023”.
The FIR said that thereafter, a further ₹2 crore was taken in four tranches.
Two days after Dhall was arrested by ED, CBI said that Vats met Sangwan at the Priya Complex in Delhi. “Sangwan told Vats that the instructions regarding the arrest of Aman Dhall came from higher authorities and he doesn’t have influence with them,” the FIR said.
Later, in June, discussions took place where the issue of returning the bribe money was taken up. On June 29, ₹1 crore was returned to Dhall’s father.
On Vikramaditya’s role, the ED complaint says that Dhall approached him, after which he asked Vats to help him.
Officials said ED recovered CCTV footage of the meetings between the accused. In addition, it recovered ₹2.19 crore cash of bribe money from the residence of Vats and also found excise policy probe-related documents from the premises of Sangwan.
The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume-based regime with a licence fee-based 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 lieutenant governor VK 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 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
