NEW DELHI: In a reprieve to AAP leader Durgesh Pathak, a Delhi court on Wednesday granted him bail in a corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Court, however, extended to September 25 the judicial custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also an accused in the case.
All the accused in custody, including Kejriwal, appeared before the court via video conferencing from Tihar Jail, except Vinod Chauhan, who was physically present.
Earlier, the Rouse Avenue Court had issued summonses and production warrants for the accused, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a supplementary charge sheet in the case.
The supplementary charge sheet named Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Sharath Chandra Reddy, Ashish Mathur and Vinod Chauhan as accused. The court acknowledged this new charge sheet on September 3.
Previously, the CBI had obtained the necessary prosecution approvals for Kejriwal and Pathak, an MLA.
The CBI claimed that funds from the ‘South Group’ were utilised for AAP’s election campaign in Goa, alleging that Kejriwal promised Rs 90 lakh to each candidate across the 40 constituencies in the state.
According to the CBI, the ‘South Group’ is a cartel of businessmen and politicians who gave kickbacks of `100 crore to AAP in return for liquor licences and modifying the now-scrapped excise policy to their benefit.
The agency claimed that Kejriwal appointed Vijay Nair, former AAP communication in-charge, to negotiate a deal with the South Group comprising BRS leader K Kavitha, Raghav Magunta, Arun Pillai, Butchibabu Gorantla, P Sarath Reddy, Abhishek Boinpally and Benoy Babu.
Bail for Arun R Pillai
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandran Pillai, an accused in the alleged money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna presided over the decision to release Pillai from custody.
Pillai, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March 2023, is alleged to be a close associate of BRS leader K Kavitha, who is also facing charges in the case. The ED has accused Pillai of accepting bribes from Sameer Mahandru, Managing Director of Indospirit, and passing them along to other co-accused individuals.
While Mahandru was granted bail earlier in the week, Pillai was accused of giving false statements during the investigation and of tampering with evidence. Despite these allegations, the court found sufficient grounds to grant him bail.