Manish Sisodia CBI Raids: A liquor businessman has allegedly paid Rs 1 crore to a company run by an associate of Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. The CBI has made this claim in its FIR on alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the Excise Policy 2021-22.

Let us inform that the Central Investigation Agency on Friday raided the official residence of Manish Sisodia in central Delhi and 30 other places in seven states and union territories. The CBI has named 15 people in its FIR registered on August 17 under IPC sections relating to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Apart from Manish Sisodia, CBI has named the then Excise Commissioner Aarav Gopi Krishna, the then Deputy Excise Commissioner Anand Kumar Tiwari, Assistant Excise Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar, nine businessmen as accused. Manish Sisodia also has the responsibility of the Excise Department.

The FIR was registered on a reference sent through the Union Home Ministry to the office of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. The CBI has alleged that Manish Sisodia and other accused public servants, after tendering, with the intention of giving undue advantage to the licensees, made recommendations and decisions relating to Excise Policy 2021-22 without the approval of the competent authority.

CBI said Vijay Nair, former CEO of entertainment and event management company Only Much Louder, Manoj Rai, former employee of Pernod Ricard, Amandeep Dhal, owner of Brindco Spirits and Sameer Mahendru, owner of Indospirits, were actively involved in the implementation of the excise policy brought in November last year. There were irregularities in scheduling and implementation. The probe agency alleged that Amit Arora, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey, directors of Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd in Gurugram, are close associates of Sisodia and active in managing and transferring undue pecuniary benefits collected from liquor licensees to accused public servants. were actively involved.

The CBI has alleged that Radha Industries, managed by Dinesh Arora, received Rs 1 crore from Sameer Mahendru of Indospirits. The CBI claimed that the source further disclosed that Arun Ramachandra Pillai, through Vijay Nair, used to collect undue money from Sameer Mahendru for further transfer of accused public servants. A person named Arjun Pandey collected huge cash amount of around Rs 2-4 crore from Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Vijay Nair.

The agency alleges that Sunny Marwah's Mahadev Liquor was given L-1 license under the scheme. It also alleged that Marwah, who was on the board of the companies of late liquor baron Ponty Chadha, was in close contact with the accused public servants and used to bribe them regularly. A CBI spokesperson said in a statement that it was alleged that irregularities were committed in amendment of the excise policy, giving undue advantage to the licensees, exemption and reduction of license fee, extension of L-1 license without approval. It was also alleged that illegal profits from these acts were diverted by private parties by giving wrong entries to the concerned public servants in their books of accounts, he said.