NEW DELHI: Revealing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s involvement in the excise scam for the first time, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in its second chargesheet claimed the CM had asked accused Sameer Mahendru to work with his close confidant Vijay Nair while formulating the new liquor policy.
The chargesheet filed before a Special ED Court said Kejriwal had in a video call to Mahendru, the managing director of Indo Spirit, said Nair was his (CM’s) boy. “These facts are relevant to mention so as to establish the abetment of his (Kejriwal) actions in relation to the Excise policy scam by the political leaders of AAP,” the chargesheet said.
“Vijay Nair who orchestrated this entire scam is not an ordinary worker of the AAP but a close associate of CM Arvind Kejriwal and was closely interacting with Dy CM for the Excise Policy related matters,” it added. “Nair, on behalf of leaders of AAP, has received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore from the South Group, whose prominent persons are M S Reddy, Raghav, Magunta, Sharath Reddy and M Kavitha,” it alleged.
The chargesheet went on to claim that part of the `100 crore was used in AAP’s Goa poll campaign in 2022. “Cash payments to the tune of `70 lakh were made to volunteers who were part of the survey teams,” it alleged.
“In order to create a continuous payment of kickback to Nair, an unheard margin of 12% was provided to private wholesalers contrary to the recommendations of the Expert Committee headed by Excise Commissioner Ravi Dhawan,” the ED said.
In the second chargesheet, the ED named 12 accused, including five Sharath C Reddy, Binoy Babu, Nair, Boinpally and Amit Arora who are already in judicial custody. Seven private entities, primarily into liquor trade, have also been mentioned as accused Trident Chemphar, Sri Avantika Contractors (I), Organomix Ecosystems, Pernod Ricard India, KSJM Spirits, Buddy Retail (TI) and Popular Spirits.
Fiction, says CM
Rejecting the allegations against him, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the second chargesheet was a complete fiction. He claimed the Central government is misusing ED with a malafide intention to topple his government
17 named as accused
The second chargesheet runs into more than 13,000 pages. In all, 17 accused have been named in the two chargesheets.The court issued summons to the accused in both chargesheets, directing them to appear on February 23