Delhi excise policy scam: Seven made accused by CBI in first charge sheet
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Nov, 2022 12:56 PM
New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its first charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy scam and named seven persons as accused, including two former Excise Department officials.
The CBI has chargesheeted Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Sameer Mahendru, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Gautham, and two government officers -- the then Deputy Commissioner of Excise Department Kuldeep Singh and then Assistant Commissioner of Excise Department Narender Singh.
The charge sheet was filed before the Rouse Avenue Court.
In the coming days, the CBI can file a supplementary charge sheet against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
"Arun Ramchandra Pillai used to collect undue pecuniary advantage from Mahendru for onward transmission to the accused public servant through Vijay Nair. Arjun Pandey once collected a huge cash amount of about Rs 2-4 crore from Mahendru on behalf of Nair," the CBI has alleged in the charge sheet.
The CBI has made Sisodia accused number one in its FIR. The CBI's FIR has been lodged under sections 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 477-A (Falsification of accounts) of the IPC.
The allegation against Sisodia is that liquor businessmen were allegedly given exemption of Rs 30 crore. The licence holders were allegedly given extension according to their own will. The policy rules were made by violating excise rules.
It also said that Sisodia and a few liquor barons were actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantages collected from liquor licensees to the public servants, who have been made accused in the case.
"Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Arva Gopi Krishna, the then Commissioner (Excise), Anand Tiwari, the then Deputy Commissioner (Excise), and Pankaj Bhatnagar, Assistant Commissioner (Excise) were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to the excise policy for the year 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensees post tender," read the FIR, which has been accessed by IANS.
As of now, the CBI has made two arrests in the case.
Furnishing details, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north), Sagar Singh Kalsi, said some complaints were received on the MHA's Cyber Crime Portal regarding extortion by fake Crime Branch and YouTube officials on the pretext of lodging police complaints over obscene videos of victims and uploading of the same on YouTube.
As many as 61 complainants listed their grievances before the Chief Minister during the 'Lok Milni'. He directed top officers present on the occasion to ensure immediate resolution of these complaints in a time-bound and result-oriented manner.
As per visuals released from the spot, thick fumes of black smoke along with a massive blaze could be seen billowing out of the ill-fated three-storey building. The firemen used the fire truck ladder to reach out to the maximum possible height to spray water over the blaze.
A 35-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly duping over 100 women on the pretext of marriage, an official said here on Friday. The accused, who has been identified as Farhan Taseer Khan, is himself married and stayed in a rented accomodation in Delhi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday dismissed its four Sub-Inspectors after placing them under arrest for demanding Rs 25 lakh bribe from a businessman in Chandigarh threatening him of implication in a terror case. The accused officials were identified as Sumit Gupta, Pardeep Rana, Ankur Kumar, Akash Ahlawat, all posted in Delhi office.
The latest arrestee, identified as Abdul alias Raja, was found involved in allegedly orchestrating violence and also provoking the crowd to resort to stone pelting during the Hanuman Jayanti procession.
