NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its fourth chargesheet in the Delhi excise policy scam before the Special Court at New Delhi’s Rouse Avenue, alleging that Hyderabad-based businessman Arun R Pillai, the owner of Indo-Spirit, operated on behalf of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha, who is also the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, and invested money to acquire property for her as per her directions.
Buchi Babu, the former Chartered Accountant (CA) of Kavitha, in his statement recorded on March 28, revealed that he had bought a property from Srihari of Phoenix Group in the name of Engrowth Capital, a firm in which Anil Kumar, Kavitha’s husband, was also a partner.
Babu said the firm was able to purchase the land at a much lower rate than the market rate due to Kavitha’s political influence in Telangana. Srihari was the COO of Phoenix Group at that time.
Based on Babu’s allegations that many other properties were purchased at a discounted price, the ED concluded in the chargesheet that a person with substantial financial transactions with Kavitha negotiated the purchase of properties, and Arun Pillai’s role was to transfer money into the accounts of those persons.
Babu also told the ED that Pillai was to hold on to the profits from Indo Spirit and invest them on Kavitha’s behalf as per her directions.
Meanwhile, the Special Court on Monday took cognisance of the fourth supplementary chargesheet which names three accused who allegedly laundered kickback money from the policy that favoured ‘liquor lobbies’ by using various middlemen to bribe government officials and politicians of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Notably, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s name was not included in the chargesheet.
Three named in fresh ED chargesheet
Apart from Pillai, the chargesheet names two others, including Delhi-based businessman Amandeep Dhal and a private firm he owns called Brindco Spirit.
The special judge, MK Nagpal, ordered the production of the accused on May 10, the next date of hearing, and directed the ED to share copies of the chargesheet with the accused.
The chargesheet was filed by the investigating agency last week. The over 1,000-page chargesheet includes a 247-page complaint along with 743 pages of relied-upon documents. The chargesheet which was filed at the registry office of the Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday, was placed before Special Judge MK Nagpal in the presence of special ED counsel Naveen Jumar Matta.
According to the ED, Amandeep played an active role in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy.
The ED has alleged that he facilitated the payment of bribes to the AAP and its recovery by the ‘South Group’, a liquor lobby that benefited from the manipulated policy, through various means.
Officials believe that Pillai was the representative of the ‘South Group’ and allegedly involved in colluding with Vijay Nair, the AAP’s point person, to make changes to the policy that eventually benefited politicians, middlemen, and liquor traders.
Pillai allegedly owned 32.5 per cent of a business entity that was a major beneficiary of the scam. The recent chargesheet filed by the ED has detailed Pillai’s role in the scam, including the list of properties and financial assets he acquired using the money generated from the scam.
As per Pillai’s disclosure, MLC Kavitha was allegedly a major stakeholder in that entity.
The ‘South Group’ is alleged to have been the biggest beneficiary of the Delhi Excise scam, in which several liquor traders had benefited and passed on Rs 100 crore — a part of the windfall gain — to the AAP as an advance.
Manish Sisodia, who was also the Excise Minister of the AAP-led Delhi government at the time, had formulated, endorsed and implemented the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The ‘South Group’ comprised YSRC MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, Sharath Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma and MLC Kavitha.
They reportedly secured tweaks in the policy, which led to massive cartelisation at multiple levels, violated the recommendations of the expert committee, and generated a windfall for liquor traders through increased commissions.
On April 6, the ED filed its third chargesheet naming Raghav Magunta, the son of YSRC MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, along with Gautam Malhotra and Rajesh Joshi.
Additionally, the chargesheet named five private companies that were allegedly involved in the money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
On January 6, a chargesheet of over 13,000 was filed by the ED, which included a complaint of 428 pages along with several documents, statements and lists of witnesses.
The chargesheet named 12 accused, including five individuals — Sharath C Reddy, Binoy Babu, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and Amit Arora — who are already in judicial custody and seven private entities primarily involved in the liquor trade as accused.
The first chargesheet filed by the ED was in November last year, naming only Sameer Mahendru, Managing Director of Indo Spirit.
The chargesheet alleged that the irregularities in the Delhi liquor policy scam had caused the government a loss of Rs 2,873 crore, while the accused gained a profit of Rs 295 crore.