New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seven days custody of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case.
The court, which was also to hear the jailed leader’s plea for bail Friday, posted the matter for 21 March due to lack of time.
Sisodia, who was arrested on 26 February by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is in jail till 20 March based on the CBI’s FIR. The probe agency had him in custody for the first seven days of his arrest, before he was sent to Tihar.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) re-arrested the AAP leader Thursday, after questioning him for two days in Tihar. The ED arrested him on charges of money-laundering (under PMLA) in the same case, and sought 10 days custody on Friday.
The court heard both pleas Friday – for custody by ED and for bail in the CBI case.
Appearing for the ED, advocate Zoheb Hossain said the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to give wholesale business to certain private companies.
“There was a conspiracy to frame the policy in such a manner so as to ensure illegal benefits to some persons. There was no suggestion from the public to fix 12% of wholesale profit margin to private entities,” he told Special Judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue court.
He added: “This sort of diluted definition not only enabled but encouraged proxy holding and cartelisation, which we will show.”
The lawyer said the “conspiracy was coordinated by Vijay Nair (AAP communication strategist, now in jail in the case) and others along with the ‘South Group’. The new policy was brought out for an extraordinary profit margin for wholesalers”.
Other than Sisodia, the ED has made another arrest in the scam pertaining to the now-withdrawn Delhi excise policy, that of Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai.
Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI over allegations that the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 was framed and implemented to benefit a lobby like the “South Group”, among whom is Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislator K. Kavitha. Sisodia was in charge of the state’s excise portfolio at that time.
Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, will face the ED for questioning on Saturday.
During argument Friday, ED’s advocate Hossain referred to a meeting between Vijay Nair and Kavitha. He said Nair acted on behalf of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia.
He added that members of the “South Group” further got control of nine zones, therefore “making a serious cartel in the excise business in Delhi”.
Zoheib also said Sisodia used sim cards and phones issued and purchased on the names of others. “He himself used a phone purchased on some other person’s name. It was purchased on Flipkart and the arrestee has not given payment,” he said.
He also said the “proceeds of crime” amounted to over Rs 292 crore. “Considering the magnitude of the matter, we need to identify the complete modus operandi. We need to confront other persons who we have summoned. We have issued summons to seven people. We are seeking Sisodia’s remand for 10 days,” he concluded.
Manish Sisodia’s advocate Dayan Krishnan said a policy is in the domain of the executive. “That’s their job to make policy for people. When a policy is made by a government, it goes through several layers. Through layers of elected government and bureaucracy. The policy then goes to the Lieutenant Governor (LG). LG sir has applied his mind and sent back three recommendations or queries…,” he said adding the policy was accepted by the LG.
Opposing the ED’s demand for 10-day custody, Krishnan added: “In money laundering, you’re expected to look at concealment, possession and use. It has to be traced to the individual. Not a single penny has been traced to Sisodia. So they say Vijay Nair represented Manish Sisodia. Laughable to say the least.”
He questioned why the “premium investigative agency” hadn’t been able to trace a single penny to Sisodia. “Now let’s see what are the proceeds of the crime. They’ve to show some tracing of money… Case is entirely based on hearsay,” Krishnan said.
Calling the Prevention of Money Laundering Act “draconian”, Sisodia’s lawyer also said “the time has come for courts to come down heavily on such arrests”.
Both the CBI and ED have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours were given to licence holders. It is alleged that the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval. The beneficiaries diverted the “gains” to accused officials and made false entries in their books.
It is further alleged that the excise department had decided to refund the earnest money deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer by flouting rules.
The Arvind Kejriwal government, which passed the policy in the middle of the Covid pandemic – has countered these allegations saying the excise policy was formulated to generate optimum revenue, eradicate the sale of spurious liquor and to avoid non-payment of duty on liquor.
The policy was, however, scrapped after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena ordered the CBI to take a look.
In October, the ED raided nearly three dozen locations in Delhi and Punjab following the arrest of Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Delhi’s Jor Bagh-based liquor distributor Indospirit Group.
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