Lookout notices issued against 8 in Delhi excise case

Vijay Nair, former chief executive officer of Mumbai-based event management firm Only Much Louder and who works closely with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was also one of the eight people, an official said, asking not to be named.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued lookout circulars against eight private individuals including Dinesh Arora, said to be a close associate of Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, in its probe into the national capital’s excise policy 2021-22, officials said on Sunday.

Delhi dy CM Manish Sisodia talks to reporters in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI)

Vijay Nair, former chief executive officer of Mumbai-based event management firm Only Much Louder and who works closely with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was also one of the eight people, an official said, asking not to be named.

The central investigating agency on Friday carried out searches at Sisodia’s residence, a month after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended an investigation into the AAP government’s new excise policy, citing a report that alleged rules were violated.

Sisodia said on Sunday that CBI also issued an LOC against him. While the agency did not officially respond to the claim, an official said: “As of now, there is no LOC against him.” The official, however, refused to comment if a request to issue an LOC against Sisodia and three other public servants was in the pipeline or halted for now.

Sisodia said CBI found “nothing” during the raid at his residence, and that the agency was involved in a drama by issuing an LOC against him when he was “roaming freely” in Delhi, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he was unable to find him.

The federal agency has named nine private individuals: Dinesh Arora; Vijay Nair; Manoj Rai, former vice president of liquor maker Pernod Ricard; Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Jor Bagh-based Indospirit Group, a distributor; Amandeep Dhal, director of Brindco Sales Pvt Ltd, a wholesaler; Amit Arora, director of Buddy Retail Private Ltd, a retailer; Sunny Marwah of Mahadev Liquors, a trading firm, also director in Ponty Chadha group firms; Telangana-based individual Arun Ramchandra Pillai; and a Gurugram resident Arjun Pandey, in the case.

Besides, Sisodia and three excise department officials — former excise commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, former deputy commissioner Anand Tiwari, and assistant commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar are also named.

A second officer cited above said that LOCs against all private individuals except Manoj Rai have been issued so that immigration authorities alert CBI in case they travel out of India. Information gathered by CBI reveals that two private individuals are already out of India.

The federal investigating agency is currently examining various documents related to the excise policy and has also questioned some private individuals.

It is looking into two aspects — role of dealers, executives of companies involved in distribution, alleged middlemen and excise officials on how the terms of policy were determined and how much money was paid as “quid pro quo”.

The agency has mentioned two payments — a transfer of ₹1 crore by Sameer Mahendru (managing director of Indospirit Group) to Sisodia’s aide Dinesh Arora — and another payment of ₹2-4 crore by Mahendru to one Gurugram-based Arjun Pandey on behalf of Vijay Nair, but officials say they are looking at other transactions as well. Nair is said to be associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for years.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday accused the Centre of playing the “CBI-ED game” every morning instead of focusing on problems of inflation and unemployment, while the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was getting nervous as the roots of the scam were leading to his doorstep.

The Congress demanded the resignation of Sisodia, saying the issue at hand was the liquor policy and the AAP should stop “hiding behind” the education policy debate.

Sisodia is among 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy.

CBI issued LOCs against eight private individuals named in the FIR, the officials said, adding that the agency had not felt the need for LOCs against public servants so far because they cannot leave the country without intimating the government.

The BJP and the AAP have been attacking each other with a flurry of press conferences and tweets after the CBI on Friday raided 31 locations including Sisodia’s residence in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi government’s Excise Policy 2021-22.

Addressing a press conference, the Aam Aadmi Party’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj hit out at the Modi government over the alleged LOC.

Chief minister Kejriwal also slammed the Centre, saying it is “fighting with the entire country” instead of working with state governments to address issues of unemployment and inflation. Kejriwal said every morning, the Centre starts “the game of CBI-ED”.

“No one is afraid of you Arvind Kejriwal ji. As the nodes of corruption are unravelling, the handcuffs are coming closer. Everyone knows how nervous you are,” BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said on Sunday, alleging Kejriwal was busy indulging in corruption when Covid-affected people needed his help.

“Roots of the excise policy ‘scam’ lead to the doorstep of corrupt Kejriwal. No one is above law, including Kejriwal, and no corrupt person will be spared,” he said at a press conference.

BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh, meanwhile, dragged Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao into the ongoing row over the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, claiming his family members attended meetings on its formulation at a five-star hotel here.

There was no reaction from Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Verma’s allegations.

The Delhi government withdrew the policy in July after Saxena recommended the probe.

CBI on Saturday began examining the accused and recorded the statements of three people named in the FIR. It said more people will be questioned after examining the documents seized during the raids and other evidence.

With inputs from PTI