The Supreme Court Monday, 18 September, asked liquor giant Pernod Ricard’s executive Benoy Babu, accused in a money laundering case related to the alleged scam in implementing the Delhi excise policy scam, to surrender by 25 September.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti extended by a week till 19 September the interim bail granted to Babu by the Delhi High Court.
The bench said it would consider his regular bail plea in the week commencing 30 October, and sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the petition challenging the July 3 order of the high court denying him the relief.
Related: Breather for Kavitha as SC posts hearing of plea to 26 Sept
Sought more time
Senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Babu, informed the court his wife’s surgery was scheduled for 22 September, so he was given some time to surrender.
Salve said Babu had a good case for a grant of regular bail on merit, and urged the court to fix a shorter date for hearing his plea.
“For 10 months he has been in jail and now he is out on interim bail on medical grounds. Since the court is considering fixing the matter for a hearing in October end, he should not be asked to surrender. Heavens won’t fall in 10 days,” he said.
The bench said it was not inclined to grant any further extension of interim bail beyond 25 September and directed Babu to surrender on or before that date.
“As far as regular bail is concerned, we are issuing notice to ED returnable in four weeks. We will hear the matter in the week commencing 30 October,” the bench said.
The Delhi high court had extended Babu’s interim bail on 6 September on “humanitarian grounds”.
Related: Arun Pillai refutes reports of him turning approver
‘Daughters suffering from depression’
Babu had told the high court that his minor daughters had been suffering from depression for the last few months and prayed for his interim bail to be extended so he could take care of his children.
The high court had extended Babu’s interim bail till 19 September and made it clear that since the relief is purely on humanitarian grounds, no further extension shall be sought on the grounds of the medical condition of his daughters.
Babu had approached the high court after the trial court refused to extend the interim bail granted to him on 24 August on medical grounds.
In his appeal before the apex court filed through advocate Raj Kamal, Babu has challenged the 3 July order of the high court refusing to grant him regular bail.
Related: YSRCP MP Sreenivasulu Reddy turns approver in the case
The alleged kickbacks
According to the ED, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication head Vijay Nair, on behalf of AAP leaders, received kickbacks to the tune of ₹100 crore from a so-called “South Group” — as termed in the statements of various persons recorded during the investigation — to manipulate the Delhi excise policy to benefit them.
According to the CBI, the prominent names in the “South Group” include YSRCP MP Magunta Srinuvasulu Reddy, his son Raghava, and Kavitha.
Arun Ramachandran Pillai was also arrested by the ED on the contention that he was among the three key representatives of Kavitha.
Apart from Pillai, the two other representatives of Kavitha are said to be beauty salon chain owner Abhishek Boinpally and chartered accountant Gorantla Butchibabu.
YSRCP MP Sreenivasulu Reddy, whose name also figured in the case, turned approver on 8 September. His son Magunta Raghava Reddy had turned approver before him.
Hyderabad-based industrialist P Sharath Chandra Reddy and chartered accountant Butchibabu Gorantla had also turned approvers.
Businessman Dinesh Arora has also turned approver in the case, taking the total to five.
The accusations
During its probe, the ED had recorded the statement of Butchibabu, in which he had said “There was a political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and deputy chief minister (Manish Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair on March 19-20, 2021”.
Vijay Nair, who is also in custody, was the communications in-charge of Kejriwal’s AAP and was said to be the key link between the “South Group” and the party in power in Delhi.
As against kickbacks that were paid, the South Group secured uninhibited access and undue favours, and attained stakes in established wholesale businesses and multiple retail zones, over and above what was allowed in the policy, said the CBI charge sheet.
To recover the kickbacks, the partners of the South Group were given a 65 percent stake in Indo-Spirits in collusion with Sameer Mahendru, the owner of the firm.
This partnership formation was directed by Nair on the assurance of giving the wholesale business of Pernod Richard to Indo-Spirits.
Dinesh Arora, a close associate of Vijay Nair, in his statement dated 1 October, 2022, revealed that the “South Group” was supposed to get its advance money back from three major wholesalers.
He too told the ED that IndoSpirits was an entity controlled by the “South Group”, therefore the recoverable money was directly in their control.
Dinesh Arora also revealed in his statement on 18 November, 2022, that Vijay Nair, through his interaction with Benoy Babu of Pernod Ricard, ensured that Pernod Ricard’s business was given to IndoSpirits in exchange for the ₹100 crore paid by the “South Group”.
(With PTI inputs)
