Delhi excise policy scam: Seven made accused by CBI in first charge sheet
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Nov, 2022 12:56 PM
New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its first charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy scam and named seven persons as accused, including two former Excise Department officials.
The CBI has chargesheeted Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Sameer Mahendru, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Gautham, and two government officers -- the then Deputy Commissioner of Excise Department Kuldeep Singh and then Assistant Commissioner of Excise Department Narender Singh.
The charge sheet was filed before the Rouse Avenue Court.
In the coming days, the CBI can file a supplementary charge sheet against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
"Arun Ramchandra Pillai used to collect undue pecuniary advantage from Mahendru for onward transmission to the accused public servant through Vijay Nair. Arjun Pandey once collected a huge cash amount of about Rs 2-4 crore from Mahendru on behalf of Nair," the CBI has alleged in the charge sheet.
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 advantages collected from liquor licensees to the 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 the excise policy for the year 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensees post tender," read the FIR, which has been accessed by IANS.
As of now, the CBI has made two arrests in the case.
The Income Tax Department on Wednesday said it recently carried out search and seizure operations on several groups engaged in healthcare services by running hospitals. A total of 44 premises were covered during the search action in Delhi-NCR.
According to the ED sleuths, five parking slots were reserved for Arpita Mukherjee at the Diamond City complex. And as per records five high-end vehicles, which include two Mercedes Benz vehicles, one Honda City, one Honda CR-V and Audi A4, were parked there till July 22 evening when the Central agency sleuths started raiding her flat in this housing complex.
A spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau said during the investigation of a complaint, it was found that accused Bikrmajit Singh has misappropriated the money by misusing account IDs, passwords and details of other employees and bank managers during his posting in the bank from 2011 to 2016.
Sidhu's mother Charn Kaur also got his face inked besides 'Shubh Sarwan Putt'. Moosewala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, 28, was shot dead while driving his vehicle in Mansa district on May 29, a day after his security cover was withdrawn.
The IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families, it said, adding that a court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. The aircraft had took off from Uttarlai airbase and crashed near Bhimda village.
The videos of LPG cylinders, cars and other vehicles floating on streets amid gushing water are going viral on social media. Officials said that rain started to pour the city on Monday evening which continued till Wednesday leaving residents stranded as streets were water clogged bringing traffic to a standstill.
