New Delhi: A city court on Thursday extended the interim bail granted to liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru, arrested in the money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, till January 22.
Special Judge M K Nagpal, who had granted interim bail to Mahendru, the managing director of liquor distributor Indospirit, on account of his wife’s surgery, extended the relief on an application moved by him claiming that the procedure has been delayed due to some medical complications.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed Mahendru’s application, asserting it was in violation of the condition imposed by the court he will not seek extension of the relief granted earlier.
The judge noted there was nothing on record to show that surgery was postponed intentionally or had to be postponed due to some fault or misconduct of the accused or his wife.
“Further, though this court has earlier imposed a condition that the applicant will not seek any extension of his interim bail on the abovesaid ground, but this condition was imposed presuming that surgery on the scheduled date will be performed and this court never anticipated that the same may be postponed due to the abovesaid or any other reason,” the judge said.
The court listed the matter for further proceedings on January 22.
“In the interest of justice, interim bail granted to the accused vide earlier order dated January 5, 2024 of this court is being extended till then on the same terms and conditions,” the judge said.
The judge, meanwhile, reserved for tomorrow the order on the application moved by co-accused Vijay Niar seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
The judge had granted interim bail to Mahendru for two weeks in the case related to alleged corruption and irregularities in formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The judge had noted that during his earlier interim bail period Mahendru did not try to influence the witnesses or tamper with evidence.
According to the prosecution, Mahendru was one of the major beneficiaries of the violations of the excise policy as he was not only running an alcoholic beverages manufacturing unit but was also given a wholesale licence and some retail licences in the name of his relatives.
Because of the alleged irregularities and violations, Mahendru earned a profit of around Rs 50 crore, the prosecution claimed.
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