Excise Case: Businessman P Sarath Reddy gets interim bail for 14 days

Reddy was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 money laundering case.

Special Judge MK Nagpal while granting bail said, he shall furnish before this court a personal bond in the sum of Rs 2 Lakh with one surety in the like amount. He shall not leave the limits of Hyderabad city, unless and until the same is required in connection with the performance of the last rites of his deceased grandmother and under no circumstances, he shall leave the country and an intimation in this regard be sent by the ED to the FRRO.

Court noted that the grandmother of the applicant is stated to have expired on January 25, 2023, but it has been stated that her dead body is still lying preserved in a mortuary and is awaiting the performance of her last rites at the hands of the applicant as he is the eldest grandson will lit the pyre.

It has been submitted that the last wish and desire of the deceased in this regard is to be fulfilled. It has also been submitted that the last rites to be performed in relation to her death will last for a period of 13 days from the date of the funeral, noted the court.

Earlier while arguing for his regular bail, Senior Lawyer Kapil Sibal submitted the allegation of Rs. 100 crore bribe is baseless and without any material. Reddy was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 money laundering case.

Reddy's lawyer argued that there is no evidence as regards the generation of the aforesaid amount. Even CBI investigating the predicate offence in the chargesheet has alleged a bribe amount of Rs. 20-30 crores but there is no allegation even in the CBI chargesheet against me.

Reddy is the head of a Hederabad-based Aurobindo Pharma company and is engaged in the liquor business, said the ED in court earlier.

While arguing against Sarath Reddy, ED submitted that it is amply evident that, he had actively planned and conspired with various business owners and politicians and indulged in unfair market practices to gain undue advantage in the Delhi Excise Policy, 2021-22. Applicant led a nexus controlling a huge market share by way of cartelization in clear contravention of objectives of Delhi Excise Policy.

Among the accused in the case are Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the then Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar.

Other accused are Manoj Rai, a former employee of Pernod Ricard; Amandeep Dhal, director of Brindco Sales; director of Buddy Retail Amit Arora, and Dinesh Arora; authorised signatories of Mahadev Liquors Sunny Marwah, Arun Ramchandra Pillai and Arjun Pandey.

The ED and the CBI have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval. The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection. (ANI)