NEW DELHI: A special court hearing the Delhi Excise case being investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) extended the custody of accused Sharath Chandra Reddy and Binoy Babu after ED cited fresh developments and seizures during the ongoing investigation for which extended the remand of the accused was necessary.
Special Judge MK Nagpal extended the custody by 4 days till Monday, after the ED counsel N K Matta requested for remand extension, “in view of fresh document recoveries and disclosures, for which the agency needs to confront the two accused with more documents, witnesses and accused.”
Also, the ED sought permission to interrogate Sameer Mahendru, promoter of liquor company Indospirit arrested earlier, in view of recent disclosures by the recently arrested accused and searches.
The court granted permission to quiz Mahendru, currently in Tihar Jail under judicial custody, by the investigating officer of the case accompanied by 2 other ED officials for any two days before November 26, under the supervision of jail authorities. Mahendru’s judicial remand ends on November 26.
Binoy Babu of Pernod Ricard and P Sharath Chandra Reddy, whole-time director and promoter of Aurobindo Pharma were arrested by the ED and produced before the court on November 10. The court granted 7 days of custody to ED to quiz the two in remand.
ED counsel submitted Thursday that while fresh disclosures and recoveries were made during searches on the premises and related locations associated with the accused, while they were in remand, the agency would need their custody for more time. “More witnesses have been summoned who will be confronted with the accused as well.”
The defence counsel for Reddy and Babu, sought specific timelines in view of the summons issued as submitting their clients cannot be kept in custody amidst uncertainty over witnesses’ confirmed responses to appear in the ED. While arguing in court, ED’s counsel Naveen Matta had said that Benoy Babu was a part of the cartelisation. He had given 29 out of 31 licences to retail, the ED said.
The ED counsel also said that the financial probe agency also got the draft final policy of the Excise Policy from Babu’s email, adding that the liquor licence had been given only to a select group of people deliberately and some of the panel submissions had been illegally leaked. The ED also alleged that Reddy is one of the kingpins and major beneficiaries in the entire Delhi Excise policy scam. The ED argued that Reddy was effectively controlling five retail zones through his group company.