ED gets 4 more days’ remand of 2 businessmen in Delhi excise policy scam

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended four days’ custodial remand of Sharath Reddy and Binoy Babu, the two businessmen who were held by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam allegedly involving Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The ED, while arguing before the court, said that it needed the further custodial remand of the accused to confront them with some witnesses and documents.

The court after hearing their argument allowed their move.

Both the accused were placed under arrest by the ED on November 10. As of now four arrests have been made in the matter.

Reddy and Babu are businessmen from south India.

“Reddy runs Arvindo Pharma firm while Babu runs Pernod Ricord firm. They are Telangana and Andhra Pradesh based businessmen,” the source said.

The CBI has made Sisodia accused number one in its FIR. The CBI’s FIR has been lodged under sections 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 477-A (Falsification of accounts) of the IPC. The allegation against Sisodia is that liquor businessmen were allegedly given exemption of Rs 30 crore. The licence holders were allegedly given extension according to their own will. The policy rules were made by violating excise rules.

It also said that Sisodia and a few liquor barons were actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from liquor licensees to public servants, who have been made accused in the case.

“Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Arva Gopi Krishna, the then Commissioner (Excise), Anand Tiwari, the then Deputy Commissioner (Excise), and Pankaj Bhatnagar, Assistant Commissioner (Excise) were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 without approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licencees post tender,” read the FIR, which has been accessed by IANS.

As of now the CBI has made two arrests in the matter.

-IANS