CBI files charge sheet against 7 in excise case
AAP communication strategist Vijay Nair among accused; Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was named as accused in the FIR, has not been named in the charge sheet
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its first charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy case naming seven people, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication strategist Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, a businessman who alleged lobbied for retail liquor licences for South India based companies, three other businessmen and two former officials of the excise department of Delhi.
Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was named as accused in the CBI FIR on August 17, has not been named in the charge sheet and investigation against him and others and into the alleged cartelisation of liquor trade in Delhi is “continuing”, the agency said. Supplementary charge sheets could be filed in future depending on the evidence, it added.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called the case “fake”, and said that attempts were being made to frame Sisodia even though the central agency found nothing against the AAP leader. “Manish’s name is not in the CBI charge sheet. The whole case is fake. Nothing was found
Vijay Nair,
Abhishek Boinpally,
Sameer Mahendru,
Arun R Pillai,
Mootha Gautam,
TWO GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES Kuldeep Singh,
Singh,
Narendra
in the raids. A total of 800 officers found nothing in the probe for four months. Manish offered hope of a good future to crores of poor children in the country through a revolution in education. I am sorry that a conspiracy was hatched to defame such a person by implicating him in a false case,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, maintained that Sisodia was the “prime accused” in the case alleging that the seven people named in the charge sheet were his close associates.
Without divulging details of the charge sheet, CBI said it registered an FIR in the matter on August 17 to probe alleged irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of the Delhi government. “It was further alleged that irregularities were committed including in modifications in excise policy, extending undue favours to the licencees, waiver/ reduction in licence fee, extension
The accused have been charged for criminal conspiracy and corruption for their role in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021-22
“The whole case is fake. I am sorry a conspiracy was hatched... implicating him in a false case,” the Delhi CM said on Manish
Sisodia’s name not being in the CBI charge sheet
of L-1 (wholesaler) licence without approval etc. It was also alleged that Illegal gains on count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts,” CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said in a statement.
“Further probe is continuing to investigate the role of Fir-named accused and other persons on various allegations including conspiracies with other licensees, money trail, cartelization and larger conspiracy in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy,” he added.
Besides Nair and Boinpally, others named in the charge sheet on Friday include Sameer Mahendru (managing director of Jor Bagh based liquor distributor Indospirit Group), Arun Ramchandra Pillai (Telangana-based businessman and an associate of Boinpally), Mootha Gautam (managing director of India Ahead News) and two government employees, Kuldeep Singh (former deputy excise commissioner of Delhi) and Narendra Singh (former assistant excise commissioner).
Nair was arrested by CBI in September while Boinpally was taken into custody the following month. Mahendru was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September. Gautam, Pillai and two former excise officers have not been arrested in the case.
The accused have been charged for criminal conspiracy and prevention of corruption act for their role in formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, which allegedly benefitted certain liquor manufacturers and wholesalers and led to cartelisation of liquor trade in Delhi.
Dinesh Arora, a named accused in the case and alleged associate of Manish Sisodia, had turned an approver in the case and recorded his disclosure statement before the probe team earlier this month.
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 license fee 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 Delhi’s lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar 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 AAP alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lowerthan-expected revenues.