New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the bail applications of city businessman Amandeep Singh Dhal in corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam being probed by the CBI and ED respectively, saying his role was “serious and grave”.
Special Judge M K Nagpal denied relief to Dhal, a director of Brindco Sales, who allegedly conspired with accused, and was “actively” involved in the formulation of the liquor policy and facilitating kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its recoupment by the ‘South Group’ through various means.
The court observed the role played by Dhal in alleged money laundering was more grave and serious than the actions of some of the other co-accused.
“It is observed that the role played by this applicant in commission of the alleged offence of money laundering is even (more) grave or serious than the role played by some other co-accused,” the court said.
It said Dhal, through his wholesale entity Brindco, was found to have been directly involved in criminal activities related to acquisition or generation of proceeds of crime. He also knowingly got involved in activities related to possession, acquisition or use of the proceeds of crime, and projected it as untainted property, the judge said.
The court said he was part of the criminal conspiracy hatched to manipulate the excise policy in exchange for payment of advance kickbacks.
“Apart from all the above, some specific allegations and evidence is also there on record against the applicant showing recovery of some incriminating documents and material from his possession.
“…. and further, some allegations of tampering of evidence, influencing of the witnesses and falsification of accounts and records have also been made against him, which are also required to be taken into consideration, along with the other material, for considering the question of grant of bail to him,” the judge said.
In the corruption case being probed by the CBI, the court said the allegations against the accused were serious.
“While considering the evidence on the face of it and without minutely testing its credibility or trustworthiness, it prima facie leads this court to form an opinion that the allegations made by prosecution against the applicant are serious in nature and he is not entitled to be released on bail even in this scheduled offences case of CBI,” the judge said.
The court rejected the argument made by Dhal that he should be granted bail on the ground of parity with other accused, including Sameer Mahandru, who was not even arrested by the CBI in the case.
“Though the role of co-accused Sameer Mahandru is admittedly serious and as grave as that of the applicant, but simply the unexplainable decision of investigating agency in not arresting the said co-accused cannot be made the basis of grant of bail to the applicant, when the evidence on record reveals a serious role played by applicant in commission of the said offences,” the judge said, dismissing his application in the corruption case.
The judge added it cannot be ignored that even co-accused Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi, has been arrested in this case and his bail applications were dismissed by this court as well as the Delhi High Court.
Dismissing Dhal’s argument seeking parity with other co-accused Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and Butchbabu Gorantha, who have already been released on bail, the court said their roles in the alleged scam cannot be equated. It said while Boinpally and Gorantha were merely the representatives of the ‘South Lobby’, the applicant was a participant and also a probable beneficiary of the criminal conspiracy in his independent capacity.
“Further, though the role of Nair can be considered to be serious, but it is observed that he was granted bail at the initial stage of investigation, when the said conspiracy and its different facets were being unearthed and even chargesheet against him was not filed,” the judge said.
However, much water has flown under the bridge since then and wide dimensions of the said conspiracy have come to surface highlighting the roles of many other conspirators in commission of the alleged offences, including the applicant, who played a vital role in the said conspiracy and also provided the platform for repayment of the kickbacks, the judge said.
The ED and the CBI have alleged serious irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, with undue favours being extended to licence holders, the licence fee having been waived or reduced, and L-1 licences extended without the approval of the competent authority.
The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the agencies have alleged.
They have alleged that the excise department had decided to refund the earnest money deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fee was allowed from December 28, 2021 to January 27, 2022 citing the Covid pandemic.
This allegedly caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer.