NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Sameer Mahendru, a liquor businessman, and Chanpreet Singh Rayat, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) volunteer, in connection with the high-profile money-laundering investigation related to the Delhi excise policy scam.
The decision was delivered by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna amid allegations of policy manipulation and preferential treatment given to certain license holders.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are jointly investigating the case, which has implicated several key figures, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The agencies alleged that significant bribes were exchanged to gain a competitive edge in the capital’s liquor market under the controversial 2021-22 excise policy, which has since been scrapped. Furthermore, the ED has claimed that a portion of these illicit funds was funnelled into the AAP’s 2022 Goa Assembly campaign.
As per the case, Mahendru is one of the chargesheeted accused in the ED-registered case stemming from a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities committed and kickbacks paid as part of the now-scrapped excise policy.
It has been alleged by the ED that the “South Group” - comprising Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate from the Ongole Lok Sabha seat Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, businessman Sarath Chandra Reddy and others - paid bribes amounting to Rs 100 crore to the AAP for obtaining a prime position in Delhi’s liquor market as part of the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
Of these alleged kickbacks, the ED has claimed that an amount of Rs 45 crore was used by the AAP to fund its poll campaign in Goa.
The prosecution has accused Mahendru of being one of the major beneficiaries of the violations in the excise policy as he was not only running an alcoholic beverage manufacturing unit but also given a wholesale licence, along with some retail licences, in the name of his relatives, violating norms.
The ED arrested Mahendru in the case on September 28, 2022, and Rayat, who allegedly “managed” cash funds for the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) campaign for the 2022 Goa Assembly polls, on April 12 this year.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Kavitha and several others are accused in the excise policy cases.
The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it in September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.