The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai in a money-laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said the Supreme Court, while granting bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the matter, has reiterated that “bail is the rule and refusal an exception” and that prolonged incarceration should not be permitted to become punishment without trial.
“The applicant (Pillai) has been behind bars since 06.03.2023; there are around 69,000 pages of documents involved in both the CBI and ED matters. Moreover, there are 493 witnesses who have to be examined on behalf of the prosecution. In the same case, the other accused persons, namely Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha and Vijay Nair, have already been admitted to bail in similar circumstances,” the court said.
“Considering the above, the applicant is admitted to bail (subject to conditions),” it ordered.
The court directed Pillai to furnish a personal bond in the sum of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the like amount.
Pillai was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the matter on March 6.
According to the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), irregularities were committed while modifying the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and undue favours extended to licence holders.
The Delhi government had implemented the excise policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
The ED has claimed that Pillai was a close associate of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, an accused in the case, and represented the “South Group” at meetings with other accused when the excise policy was being formulated and implemented.
The “South Group” is allegedly a cartel of liquor businessmen and politicians who were claimed to have paid Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for favours.
The Supreme Court granted bail to Kavitha in the excise policy cases on August 27.
In the 21-page judgment, Justice Krishna said the prosecution complaint (chargesheet) has already been filed against Pillai and the investigation against him is complete.
The court opined that the accused has “deep roots” in the society and is not a flight risk since he has business and profession based in India.
“The evidence so collected by the respondent is in the nature of statements of the accomplices, witnesses and co-accused persons, many of which have been retracted…. As noted in Manish Sisodia v. Directorate of Enforcement, there is no possibility of tampering of evidence by the applicant if the applicant is granted bail as the case is primarily dependent on documentary evidence, which is already seized by the prosecution,” it said.
Senior advocate Mohit Mathur and advocate Nitesh Rana appeared in the court for Pillai.
The court recently granted bail to liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru and AAP volunteer Chanpreet Singh Rayat in the matter.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia and several others are accused in the excise policy cases.
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