The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday allowed Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, and Delhi-based businessman Dinesh Arora to turn approver in a case filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for money laundering in the now scrapped Delhi excise policy.
Special Judge M.K. Nagpal directed the two men to cooperate with the investigation and disclose all information they have about the case to the investigators in a formal statement which will be recorded in the days to come.
The ED was being represented by Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Matta, who submitted that the agency had not opposed the applications moved by the accused.
The ED had also not opposed Mr. Magunta’s bail application in the Delhi High Court.
The agency had also not opposed the application to become approver filed by Mr. Arora, who was already an approver in another case pertaining to Delhi excise policy filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI had accused Dinesh Arora in excise policy scam in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is the main accused.
The CBI lodged an FIR in the alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of Delhi, in 2022. The agency has alleged that the excise policy was modified to extend undue favours to licence holders; the licence fee was waived or reduced; and L-1 (wholesaler) licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval.
The investigative agency alleged that Mr. Arora was a close aide of Mr. Sisodia and accused him of having managed and diverted the bribes received from the beneficiaries to the public servants.
The Excise Department had allegedly decided to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about ₹30 crore to a successful tenderer against the existing rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, waiver on tendered licence fee was allowed due to COVID-19 from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, allegedly causing a loss of ₹144.36 crore to the exchequer.
Based on the CBI case, the ED was conducting a money-laundering investigation and arrested nine persons. Its chargesheet stated that a portion of the alleged kickbacks was diverted through “hawala” channels for the AAP’s poll campaign in the 2022 Goa Assembly election.
