Excise 'Scam': Delhi Court Extends Judicial Custody Of Four Accused Till Jan 7

A Delhi court on Monday extended till January 7 the judicial custody of four accused, arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam also involving Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
     
Special Judge M K Nagpal extended the custody of businessmen Sharath Reddy, Binoy Babu, Vijay Nair, and Abhishek Boinpally after they were produced before the court, noting that the bail petitions of all these accused are presently pending in this court for arguments on different dates.
     
The special judge passed the order after noting the submissions of Enforcement Directorate's special public prosecutor N K Matta that the agency was in process of filing a supplementary charge sheet against all arrested accused.
     
The ED told the court that the charge sheet is likely to be filed by January 6.
     
The agency had earlier told the court that the next charge sheet would be common against all the arrested accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam.
     
The ED told the court that the investigation regarding the role of other accused persons and the phasing out of the remaining proceeds of crime is still pending.
     
The CBI and the ED have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval. 
     
The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the agencies said.
     
The FIR in the case was instituted on a reference from the Union Home Ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.