Excise policy scam: Delhi court fixes May 12 to consider CBI's supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia, others
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Apr, 2023 03:53 PM
New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) A special Delhi court fixed May 12 for consideration of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s supplementary charge sheet filed on Tuesday against former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and three others in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy.
The CBI told Judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court that the prosecution sanction against Sisodia has already been procured from the competent authorities.
The probe agency also informed the court that Hyderabad-based CA Butchi Babu Gorantla, Arjun Pandey, and Amandeep Singh Dhall were also mentioned as accused in the final report, which also included a list of witnesses and documents that were used as support.
The CBI has invoked IPC's Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence/giving false information) and 420 (cheating) besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Till now, the CBI has arrested five accused and charge sheeted 11 accused persons.
Earlier, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Sameer Mahendru, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpelly, Gautam Mutha, Arun Pillai, and excise officials Kuldeep and Narendra Singh.
Sources said that the CBI has alleged in the chargesheet that liquor businessman Dhall, the director of Brindco Sales Pvt Ltd, was in criminal conspiracy with accused Vijay Nair and the South Group for generating cash towards payment of 6 per cent commission out of the enhanced 12 per cent profit margin.
The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26 and it filed the charge sheet on the 58th day.
The agency said the probe is still going on to look into larger conspiracy and role of other accused in the case.The CBI also filed the electronic copy of the charge sheet in form of a compact disc (CD), which also contained all the documents filed with the charge sheet.
The accused were identified as Mohd. Danish (33) and Danish alias Raja (30), both residents of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. Police have also recovered five high end luxury cars and SUVs from the possession of the accused.
The cause of the provocation is yet to be ascertained, an official told IANS, adding the situation is under control. Videos of the ruckus were viral on the social media. Many parked vehicles and a nearby police station was pelted on with stones.
The court had, on March 4, extended Sisodia's CBI custody for two days and listed his bail plea for March 10 and in the last two days, the CBI questioned him with key witnesses -- former excise commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna and former excise department secretary C. Arvind -- in this case, who recorded their statements in front of a magistrate.
A police official said that the two men, wearing masks, entered the bank branch at around 9.45 a.m. when only three employees were present there, and threatened the staff with a pistol. They forced the staff to open the vault where Rs 10 lakh was kept and fled with the money by 10.30 am.
The Chief Minister, who reviewed the arrangements for the mega event here, said Punjab is fully ready to host the sessions and asked the officers to ensure foolproof arrangements for the working sessions slated to take place at the holy city of Amritsar next week.
The arrested customers have been identified as Anil, Rajan, Sagir, Abhishek and Harish. The house belongs to one Neeraj Bhati. Police recovered six mobile phones, Rs 2,100 in cash and objectionable items from their possession.
