Excise Policy Case: Delhi HC reserves order on businessman Arun R Pillai’s bail plea

New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved an order on the bail plea of Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai related to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation into the Delhi Excise policy case.

The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna reserved its order following the completion of submissions from both sides. Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who is currently under judicial custody, was arrested by the ED in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case. He was represented by Advocate Nitesh Rana and Advocate Deepak Nagar in the matter.

In another significant development, the Supreme Court granted bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Tuesday. This decision pertains to cases initiated by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding alleged corruption related to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

Arun Ramachandra Pillai, a Hyderabad-based businessman and alleged close aide of K Kavitha, was arrested by the ED in March 2023. He was accused of receiving bribes from Sameer Mahendru, Managing Director of Indospirit, and handing them over to other accused individuals.

The ED’s chargesheet alleges that Pillai gave false statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the investigation. It also claimed that he destroyed or changed five mobile phones over two years, and did not produce the phones he used during the scam. Furthermore, chats involving Pillai found on other individuals’ phones were missing from his own, suggesting deliberate destruction of evidence.

The ED contends that Pillai’s retraction of his statements was an attempt to undermine the investigation, labelling it as a legal ploy to disrupt proceedings.

The ED and the CBI have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval.

The beneficiaries diverted illegal gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.

As alleged, the Excise Department had decided to refund the earnest money deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to COVID-19.

This allegedly caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer, which has been instituted on a reference from the Union Home Ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.