New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party communications in-charge Vijay Nair on Wednesday told a Delhi court that no purpose will be served by keeping him in custody any further and urged for bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is also an accused.
Nair made the submission before Special Judge M K Nagpal during the argument on his bail application in the case.
Senior Advocate Rebecca John, appearing for the accused, told the court the investigation against him was already complete and that he was no longer required for custodial interrogation.
After hearing the arguments, the court adjourned the matter for January 13 after the ED sought time to argue on the application.
The agency told the court that the prosecution complaint (the ED equivalent of charge sheet) against the applicant is most likely to be filed on January 6 and that it will advance argument on the application after that.
“Part arguments on the bail application as advanced by senior counsel representing the applicant have been heard. It has been stated that a prosecution complaint against the applicant is most likely to be filed on January 6, 2023. Hence, as requested on behalf of the applicant, the bail application is directed to be listed on January 13, 2023 for further arguments,” the judge said.
The ED had arrested Nair on November 14, and he is currently in judicial custody.
The agency has also made Sisodia, the then Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar accused in the case.
The ED and the CBI have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, licence fee was waived or reduced and 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 liquor trade in any state for at least five years.
The beneficiaries were alleged to have diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.
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