On Thursday, July 14, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed second supplementary chargesheet against five accused persons in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy Case.
According to the reports, Rajesh Joshi, the director of Chariot Productions Media Private Limited, joined by Damodar Prasad Sharma and Prince Kumar, as well as Arvind Kumar Singh, a staff member at India Ahead News, and Chanpreet Singh Rayat, are among those charged.
According to the CBI, the accused were involved in the hawala channel transfer of illicit profits of around 44.54 crore to Goa.
On August 17, 2022, the agency had filed a case against then-Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 14 others. The Delhi government’s then Commissioner (Excise), Deputy Commissioner (Excise), Assistant Commissioner (Excise), 10 licensees of alcoholic beverages, and unidentified friends were among the accused.
It appears that there were inconsistencies in the formulation and application of the excise policy and that the licensees received improper advantages, such as the waiver or decrease of the licence fee or the extension of the L-1 licence without authorization.
The agency additionally asserts that the beneficiaries, who made fraudulent entries in their books of accounts for the purpose, expressed the illegal proceeds resulting from these crimes to the public workers in question.
Additionally, the CBI searched in Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Bengaluru, where it later made additional arrests. Sisodia was taken into custody on February 26.
In November 2022, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against seven the accused, including the Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Excise at the time. In April, Sisodia and another three individuals were named in a subsequent chargesheet.
The ED is undertaking a money laundering investigation based on the CBI case and has already attached assets totaling Rs. 128.78 crore. The “proceeds of crime” are said to have been estimated to be worth at least 1,934 crore. Furthermore, the agency has charged five people and arrested 12 suspects.
The now-scrapped excise regime, according to the ED, extended an incredibly high 12% profit margin for wholesalers and nearly 185% profit margin for retailers. Also, favors were extended through cartelization.
Last week, Manish Sisodia, senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister of Delhi, filed a petition with the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn a decision by the Delhi High Court that had refused him bail. He had sought bail from court citing his wife’s ill health and his son being abroad.
