The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches at more than two dozen locations in different States in connection with the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
Responding to the searches, AAP alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has instructed the ED to conduct raids all over the country and “fraudulently” link them to senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Money laundering probe
The searches were carried out in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Mumbai. The agency has initiated a money laundering probe based on the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 17 against Mr. Sisodia and others.
“Why has there been no CBI-ED investigation into the ₹110 crore MP ration scam and ₹10,000 crore illegal liquor trade in Gujarat? The BJP’s central government is conspiring against AAP because of its fear of Arvind Kejriwal’s rising popularity in Gujarat,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
‘BJP’s hypocrisy’
He claimed that the BJP’s “hypocrisy has been exposed and their real face is in front of the entire country”.
Among the accused public servants are the then Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar. Other accused include Vijay Nair, former chief executive officer of Mumbai-based entertainment and event management company named Only Much Louder; Manoj Rai, a former employee of Pernod Ricard; Amandeep Dhal, director of Brindco Sales; Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Indospirit Group; Amit Arora, director of Buddy Retail; Sunny Marwah, the authorised signatory of Mahadev Liquors; and three individuals — Dinesh Arora, Arun Ramchandra Pillai and Arjun Pandey.
Although Mr. Sisodia is one of the accused in the case, the ED has not searched his premises so far.
‘Undue favours’
The CBI has alleged that there were irregularities while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, licence fee was waived or reduced, and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval. The alleged illegal gains were diverted to the public servants concerned by private parties and false entries were made in their books of accounts to conceal the money trail.
The probe agency has also alleged that the Delhi Excise Department decided to refund the earnest money deposit of about ₹30 crore to a successful tenderer against the existing rules. Although there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fee was allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022. It allegedly caused a loss of ₹144.36 crore to the exchequer, according to the FIR.
Identifying Mr. Dinesh Arora and Mr. Pandey as “close associates” of Mr. Sisodia, the CBI has also alleged that the three were actively involved in managing and diverting the bribes collected from the beneficiary licence holders to the public servants.
As alleged, Mr. Mahendru had transferred about ₹1 crore to the account of one Radha Industries, managed by Mr. Dinesh Arora; Mr. Pillai received money from Mr. Mahendru for further transfer to an accused public servant via Mr. Nair; and that Mr. Pandey had once collected about ₹2-4 crore from Mr. Mahendru on behalf of Mr. Nair.
In July, Lieutenant-Governor recommended CBI probe into the excise policy.
