Delhi Excise Policy: Special court summons 'kingpin', others after taking cognisance of money laundering charge in ED case

A special court in the capital has taken cognisance of money laundering charges against one of the “kingpins” of the Delhi Excise Policy case registered and being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) [ED v. Sameer Mahandru & Ors]..On the basis of oral and documentary evidence presented before him, Special judge MK Nagpal observed that the five accused — Sameer Mahandru, M/s Khao Gali Restaurants Pvt Ltd, M/s Bubbly Beverages Pvt Ltd, Indo Spirits and M/s Indospirit Distribution Ltd — were either directly or indirectly involved in the generation, concealment or possession of the proceeds of crime alleged in the case.“Since sufficient grounds exist for proceeding further in the matter against all the above five accused, they are directed to be summoned to appear and face trial before this court for the above said offence, though some further investigation with regard to the other persons/entities involved in the case and to trace out the balance proceeds of crime is still stated to be pending,” the order stated..The court was hearing a prosecution complaint filed by the ED on November 26 that contained money laundering charges against the five accused..The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier registered a case in connection with alleged irregularities in framing and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. The case was registered after the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena made a complaint on July 20, 2022. .Apart from Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the Delhi Excise Minister, 14 others, including some public servants of the excise department, were named in the first information report (FIR) registered by the CBI. It was alleged that they were all part of a criminal conspiracy along with other unidentified and unnamed persons/entities during the relevant period when the Excise Policy was at formulation stage. As a part of the conspiracy, it was alleged that some loop holes were intentionally left or created in the Policy, that were meant to be exploited later in terms of favouring some licensees and conspirators in the post-bid period..The case details revealed that kickbacks through hawala channels were reportedly paid by a few persons in the liquor business from “South India” to some public servants of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and that of Delhi’s excise department to achieve the objectives of “monopoly and cartelisation” among liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers by violating its provisions. The kickbacks were reportedly going to be returned to the “persons from South” either out of profit margins of the wholesalers or through credit notes issued by the wholesalers to the retail vends owned or controlled by those from the southern part of India. Mahandru was stated to have been “actively” involved not only in the kickbacks, but also in formation of the "cartelisation and monopoly". As a result, the agency claimed, a loss of ₹2,873 crore was caused to the exchequer.ED further alleged that kickbacks of around ₹100 crore were paid to politicians and public servants of the AAP government. Besides, some of these kickbacks were purportedly found to have been paid back or re-cooped to the “South liquor lobby” out of the profit margins of wholesalers through different modes, including bank transfers and credit notes. .Mahandru and his companies were allegedly able to secure retail zone licenses despite the fact that he was also in the liquor producing business.“…as a result of the cartelisation and monopoly achieved in furtherance of the above criminal conspiracy, a total loss of approximately ₹2,873 crores was caused to the exchequer of GNCTD and accused 1 and the connected companies/entities were found to have been involved in generation of proceeds of crime amounting to around ₹295.45 crore,” ED alleged..While taking cognisance of the money laundering charges against the five accused, the court summoned them on January 5, 2023..Special Public Prosecutor NK Matta represented the ED. Advocates Dhruv Gupta and Harshil Gupta appeared for Mahandru..[Read Order]