Delhi liquor scam: Court sends Sisodia to 7 days in ED’s custody; bail plea to be heard on 21 March

The Central agency contended that the 'scam' started soon after the new excise policy was drafted by Sisodia and others.

BySouth First Desk

Published Mar 10, 2023 | 5:37 PMUpdatedMar 10, 2023 | 5:58 PM

Sisodia ED custody

The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Friday, 10 March, sent former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till 17 March in a money laundering case related to the Delhi liquor scam case.

The ED had earlier sought his custody for 10 days. The court also said that the bail plea moved by Sisodia would be heard on 21 March.

There was heavy security within and outside the Rouse Avenue Court where Sisodia was produced amid protests by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the rival BJP.

The supporters of the AAP staged a protest outside the court premises and raised slogans in Sisodia’s favour, while those of the BJP demonstrated demanding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation over the case.

Related: ED arrests Arun Pillai before questioning Sisodia in Tihar

‘Money laundering nexus’

The federal anti-money laundering probe agency produced Sisodia before Special Judge MK Nagpal and contended that the “scam” started soon after the new excise policy was drafted by AAP leader and others.

The ED counsel said it had evidence against the senior AAP leader in the case while seeking Sisodia’s custody.

The movement of tainted money through hawala channels was also being probed, he said, claiming Sisodia was part of the “money laundering nexus”.

ED’s counsel Zoheb Hossain also claimed before the special court that Sisodia destroyed his phone, an important piece of evidence in the investigation.

The lawyer for the Central anti-money laundering probe agency alleged Sisodia made false statements about the “scam” and that it wanted to unearth the modus operandi of the perpetrators and confront him with the other accused.

The ED counsel said it had evidence against the senior AAP leader in the case. The movement of tainted money through hawala channels was also being probed, he said.

“Sisodia destroyed the phone and other evidence. He instead used a phone purchased by others,” the ED lawyer told the court.

The ED arrested Sisodia on Thursday evening in the Tihar jail, where he was lodged in connection with a case being probed by the CBI pertaining to alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.

‘Lt Governor must have examined excise policy’

The claims of the ED counsel were contested by a battery of lawyers who represented Sisodia.

Senior advocates Dayan Krishnan, Mohit Mathur and Siddharth Aggarwal said the excise policy was accepted by the Lieutenant Governor who must have examined it.

Sisodia’s lawyers, while opposing the ED’s plea for his custody, said it is the executive’s job to make policy which goes through several layers of scrutiny.

“How can ED look into policymaking in a money-laundering case,” the AAP leader’s counsel asked the court.

“ED has not found a single penny from my client… the case is entirely based on hearsay,” the lawyer said.

The ED questioned Sisodia fielding three lawyers for his defence, but the court allowed all of them to argue. Normally only one lawyer defends an accused in a case.

Sisodia’s counsel rejected all the allegations. Terming the PMLA a “draconian” law, they said he was arrested so that he can be kept in jail. The time has come for courts to come down heavily on such arrests, they said.

CBI interrogates Sisodia’s aide

Earlier, the CBI, on 7 March questioned Sisodia’s personal assistant Devender Sharma, officials said.

Sharma, alias Rinku, was summoned to the CBI headquarters where he was questioned by officials of the anti-corruption branch since morning, they said.

The CBI alleged that wholesale dealers were given undue profit margins under the influence of the so-called “South Group” in the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped.

“It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, including modifications in the excise policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, the extension of L-1 license without approval, etc,” a CBI spokesperson had said after the FIR was filed on 17 August last year.

“It was also alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts,” the official had said.

Related: Summoned by ED, BRS MLC K Kavitha says will go, but on 11 March

Bribes paid by liquor traders

The South Group, the ED alleged, had paid ₹100 crore kickback to Vijay Nair, who is the communications in-charge of AAP.

In return, Nair ensured that the South Group — comprising BRS MLC K Kavitha, YSRCP MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Magunta Raghava Reddy, among others — secured stakes in wholesale businesses as it had no hold over the Delhi liquor business.

He ensured that the group was allowed to hold multiple retail licences over and above the permissible number as per the excise policy.

Dinesh Arora, a close associate of Nair, in his statement on 1 October 2022 revealed that the South Group gave ₹100 crore to Nair in advance and it was to get back the money from three major wholesalers.

The ED has informed the court through its charge sheet that its probe found that at least 36 accused, including Sisodia “destroyed, used or changed” 170 phones to conceal evidence of “kickbacks” worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.

It had also named Sisodia’s boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the second charge sheet filed in the case early this year.

The charge sheet claimed that C Arvind, a DANICS (Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and. Nagar Haveli Civil Service) officer, who was earlier secretary to Sisodia, recorded his statement under the PMLA.

He reportedly stated that he was given the GoM (Group of Ministers) report on the excise policy in mid-March 2021 when his boss (Sisodia) called him to Kejriwal’s residence.

(With PTI inputs)