The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandran Pillai, who was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement in March last year in a money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
The order was passed by the single-judge Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna.
Earlier in June 2024, the High Court denied interim medical bail to Pillai on the grounds that he was receiving adequate treatment in jail.
Pillai sought an eight-week interim bail on medical grounds, including back pain. The petitioner submitted that his family has taken the opinion of ayurvedic doctors who have opined that he needed to be admitted at an ayurvedic centre to undergo a 21-day panchakarma therapy with further rest of 21 days.
The single-judge Vacation Bench of Justice Ravinder Dudeja noted that none of the medical reports even remotely suggested that Pillai was suffering from any life-threatening ailment or that treatment for such ailment was not available in the referral hospitals.
Dismissing the interim bail application, the High Court directed the jail authorities to provide requisite medical attention to the accused as per the advice of the doctor.
Pillai was arrested by the ED on March 6, 2023 over alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The national agency accused Pillai of representing the ‘South Group’ at meetings with other accused during the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The South Group is allegedly a cartel of liquor businessmen and politicians, who reportedly paid Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for favours.
It further alleged that Pillai gave false statements to the probe agency during the investigation. He was also accused of destroying evidence.
As per the allegations, Pillai received bribes from Sameer Mahandru, Managing Director of liquor company Indospirit, and handed them over to other accused. Mahandru was granted bail by the High Court earlier this week.
The businessman was stated to be a close associate of K Kavitha, a leader of Bharat Rashtra Samithi and daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao. She is also an accused in the case.
The Excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and implementation.
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