Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh will remain in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate until October 10. A special CBI Court in Delhi while granting his remand to the ED said that his custodial interrogation is required after approver Dinesh Arora said that Singh was paid Rs 2 crore in the case as part of a kickback.
The ED, in its remand application, alleged that Sanjay Singh was a key conspirator who was aware of the policy change and the kickbacks that were allegedly received from beneficiaries. “Sanjay Singh has been part of the conspiracy of collecting kickbacks from the liquor groups in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22,” the agency said.
The evidence ED submitted in court spoke about two instances of bribery paid in the scam which Sanjay Singh was not only aware of but also an integral part of. The first instance was the upfront advance kickback of Rs 100 crore the AAP leaders received from the ‘South Group‘.
The money was allegedly given to Vijay Nair, the communication in-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), at a South Delhi hotel by representatives of the ‘South Group’. The transfer was coordinated by Dinesh Arora, who has since turned approver in this case. Arora is also the link to AAP leader Sanjay Singh’s arrest. Arora claimed that it was the Rajya Sabha MP who introduced him to Manish Sisodia.
Sanjay Singh took bribe to get Sameer Mahendru of Indospirit Pernod Ricard’s licence: ED
In the second alleged bribery instance, Sameer Mahendru of Indospirit also delivered a kickback to Sanjay Singh at his residence, the ED said. The agency alleged the kickback money was used for Goa election funding of AAP. In return, Mahendru got a nod for the licence for the world’s second-largest liquor-selling company- Pernod Ricard.
Detailing the money trail, the agency said, Dinesh Arora, a close aid of Manish Sisodia and accused-turned-approver in the case, took Rs 3 crores from Sameer Mahandru in August-October 2021 on the instructions of Vijay Nair, since Vijay Nair was facilitating the granting of Pernod Ricard’s licence to Sameer Mahandru.
The above amount was given in three instalments. One of the installments of Rs 1 crore was taken by Dinesh Arora’s staff from Indospirit’s office at Okhla and this amount was handed over to Sanjay Singh’s associate Sarvesh Mishra at Sanjay Singh’s North Avenue home.
“After the money was handed over to Sarvesh, Dinesh Arora called Sanjay Singh and told that money has been given to Sarvesh to which Sanjay Singh replied that he (Sanjay Singh) is aware and Vijay Nair had already called him (Sanjay Singh),” the agency alleged.
The ED said Sanjay Singh was aware of the work that Dinesh Arora does and also about his links with the South Group.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday (October 4) raided AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh’s home in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy and later arrested him. The ED alleged that senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh promised favours to the beneficiaries of the Delhi excise policy scam with the help of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
The ED said the investigation has revealed that Singh had assured to get changes through Manish Sisodia in the then-proposed Excise Policy of 2020-21 to increase the brand registration criterion for IMFL brands at the behest of Amit Arora and Dinesh Arora.
Sanjay Singh will be presented before the court on 10 October at 2 PM, after his 5-day custody is over.
Sanjay Singh is the third key leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia to be arrested in the liquor policy case.
