In a fresh development in the Delhi Excise policy case, the High Court on Tuesday granted bail to businessmen Amit Arora and Amandeep Singh Dhall. Arora and Dhall were the last accused in the ED's money laundering case to be lodged in jail as every other accused had got bail at one point or the other during the hearings.
High Court Justice Neena Bansal Krishna granted relief to the two accused. As per the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), irregularities were committed while modifying the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and undue favours were extended to licence holders.
Notably, the Delhi government implemented the excise policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 after the allegations of corruption.
Who are Amit Arora and Amandeep Singh Dhall?
Arora is the director of Gurugram-based Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd and was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on November 29, 2022. He has been lodged in jail since then. According to claims of the CBI, Arora was a close aide of Manish Sisodia and both were actively involved in "managing and diverting" the illicit money collected from liquor licensees.
Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, held the excise portfolio when the policy was formulated. He was also arrested and got the bail recently. According to the central probe agencies, Dhall is the director of Brindco Sales Private Limited. He allegedly conspired with other accused and was "actively" involved in the formulation of the liquor policy and facilitating kickbacks to the AAP and its recoupment by the "South Group" through various means.
The probe agencies claim that the "South Group" is a cartel of businessmen and politicians. Dhall was arrested by the ED in March last year.
(With PTI Inputs)
