Excise Case: AAP's Vijay Nair gets 2 weeks interim bail on medical ground

The Special Judge, MK Nagpal, granted two weeks of interim bail on a Rs 2 lakh personal bond and a similar amount of surety. During the said period, he shall not leave the limits of Mumbai, said the court while imposing certain other conditions.

The court noted that the co-accused, Sammer Mahadru, P Sarath Chandra Reddy, Benoy Babu, Amit Arora, Raghav Magunta and Arun Ramchandran Pillai, etc., have all been earlier granted interim bail in this case, either by this court or by the High Court, on different grounds and these grounds were mainly related to their own medical conditions or the medical conditions of their immediate family members.

Vijay Nair was arrested in this case by the ED on November 13, 2022, and since then he has been in custody. His regular bail application was already dismissed by the trial court on February 16, 2023.

Nair earlier in his bail plea stated that he was only the media and communications in charge of the AAP and was not involved in the drafting, framing or implementation of the excise policy in any manner, and that he was being "victimised" for his political affiliation.

Nair stated that the allegations against him are wrong, false and baseless.

He asserted that his arrest by Enforcement Directorate was completely illegal and "appears to be motivated by extraneous considerations," given that the special court was expected to pronounce orders on his bail plea in the corruption case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation

The ED and the CBI had 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 L-1 licence is granted to a business entity having wholesale distribution experience in the liquor trade in any state for at least five years. (ANI)