A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication in-charge Vijay Nair and businessman Abhishek Boinpally in the excise policy case registered by the CBI. However, the same court sent them to ED custody for five days in connection with the agency's money laundering probe into the policy.
Nair, an aide of Delhi deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday just ahead of his bail hearing against his CBI custody in the case. Both Nair and Boinpally are currently lodged in jail after CBI arrested them earlier this year.
The ED, which is probing the money laundering angle of the case, has claimed that Nair and Boinpally would be confronted with the evidence gathered and statements recorded by other persons and accused involved in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy, PTI reported.
READ | ED Arrests AAP's Vijay Nair And Abhishek Boinpally In Delhi Liquor Excise Policy Case
Sameer Mahandru, promoter of liquor company Indospirit, general manager of liquor company Pernod Ricard, Benoy Babu, and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, whole-time director and promoter of Aurobindo Pharma, were arrested by the ED earlier in the case.
The ED recently informed a local court that several people questioned by it during the course of investigation "have revealed that bribe to the tune of Rs 100 crore had been given in advance for undue benefits to select business groups to operate in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22".
The ED's money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR that had named Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia as an accused among others. The CBI has alleged that many ineligible vendors were awarded licences by the Delhi government in exchange for bribes.
The policy, introduced in November last year, was withdrawn eight months later amid allegations of corruption.
The CBI FIR also alleged that Arjun Pandey, an associate of Sisodia, had once collected about Rs 2-4 crore in cash from Sameer Mahandru on behalf of Nair, former CEO of Only Much Louder (OML), an entertainment and event management company.
In its FIR, the CBI also alleged that "close associates" of Sisodia -- Amit Arora, Director of Buddy Retail Pvt. Limited based in Gurgaon, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey -- were "actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from liquor licensees" for the accused public servants.
After Nair's arrest by the CBI, the AAP had alleged that it was part of the BJP's "ongoing attempt" to crush the party and obstruct its campaign in Gujarat, which goes to polls in December.
"Vijay Nair is communication in-charge of AAP. He was responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies in Punjab earlier and Gujarat now. He has nothing to do with the excise policy. Strangely, he has been arrested by the CBI just now in the excise case," AAP had said.
(With inputs from PTI)