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TMI Blog2023 (7) TMI 1381X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is also a settled proposition that the court is not required to hold a mini trial at this stage and is required to examine the case on the basis of broad probabilities. It is also to be kept in mind that while exercising the jurisdiction under Section 45 of PMLA, the court is required to take into consideration the limitations prescribed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. The bare reading of Section 3 of PMLA would make it clear if a person is involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use and projecting or claiming it as untainted property shall be guilty offence of money laundering. Therefore, it is not necessary to attribute section 3 of the PMLA that the alleged person must have acquired or in possession of the proceeds of the crime. If a person has actually been involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, it would be sufficient to prosecute him under Section 3 of PMLA. The argument that the proceeds of crime have not been received or the proceeds of crime has not been recovered and therefore section 3 of the PMLA will not come into operation is totally fallacious and is li ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Judge has passed a reasoned order on the basis of material available on record - This court inter alia was of the view that in view of the high political positions held by the accused and his position in the party in power in Delhi possibility of influence the witnesses cannot be ruled. The twin conditions under Section 45 of PMLA are in addition to the triple test. This Court is of the considered view that the petitioner has not only been able to pass the twin conditions as provided under Section 45 of PMLA, but he has also not been able to cross the triple test. Petition dismissed. - Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma For the Petitioner : Mr. Mohit Mathur, Sr. Adv. Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Adv. With Mr. Vivek Jain, Mr. Mohd. Irshad, Mr. Mohit Siwach, Mr. Karan Sharma, Mr. Rishikesh Kumar, Mr. Aditya Raj, Mr. Harsh Gautam, Mr. Abhinav Jain, Mr. Rajat Jain, Mr. Mayank Sharma and Mr. Rishabh Sharma, Advocates. For the Respondent : Mr. S. V. Raju, ASG with Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Special counsel for ED and Mr. Vivek Gumani, Mr. Ankit Bhatia, Mr. Bhaibhav, Mr. Harsh Paul Singh and Mr. Kartik Sabarwal, Advs. JUDGMENT DINESH KUMAR SHARMA, J : A. FACTUAL MATRIX 1. The present judgme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndue pecuniary advantage to Public Servants. In furtherance to this, they are showing false entries in their books of accounts to keep their record straight. c. Shri Amit Arora, Director of M/s Buddy Retail Pvt. Limited, 1402, Tower-15, Vipul Greens, Gurgaon. Haryana, Shri Dinesh Arora R/o Plot No.-139, III Floor. Block-A. Gujrawala Town, Phase-I. Delhi. Shri Arjun Pandey are close associates of Shri Manish Sisodia and are actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from Liquor Licensees to accused public servants. That Shri Sameer Mahendru, MD. M/s Indospirits has transferred an amount of one crore to account no. 10220210004647 of M/s Radha Industries maintained with UCO Bank. Rajendra Place, New Delhi. M/s Radha Industries is being managed by Shri Dinesh Arora. That Shri Arun Ramchandra Pillai used to collect undue pecuniary advantage from Shri Sameer Mahendru, MD. M/s Indospirit for onward transmission to accused public servant through Shri Vijay Nair. A person named Arjun Pandey has once collected huge cash amount of about Rs.2-4 crores from Shri Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Shri Vijay Nair. d. M/s Mahadev Liquors, a proprietorship firm w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to forward to the team of Vijay Nair and inform Shri Vijay Nair. d. Sh. Vijay Nair instructed the employees of Pernod Ricard India Pvt. Ltd through messages and conversations over phone as well as in person that M/s Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd should not give its wholesale distributorship to M/s Brindco Sales Pvt. Limited as M/s Diageo is going to award its wholesale distributorship to M/s Brindco Sales Pvt. Limited. e. That, Shri Sameer Mahandru introduced Shri Arun R. Pillai and Shri Abhishek Boinpally as potential investors in Indo Spirits who have a backing of Sh. Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy of Balaji Group and Sh Sharad Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma. In this regard, a meeting was held at hotel Taj Mansingh, Delhi on 20.09.2021 in which the employees of M/s Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd, Sh. Abhishek Boinpally, Sh. Arun R Pillai, Sh. Sameer Mahandru, Sh. Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Sh Sharad Reddy and others were present. f. When these persons applied for L1 license under the name of Indo Spirits Marketing Pvt Ltd, there were certain complaints mentioning cartelisation and EMD cross funding against Indospirits and Khao Gali and its promoter Sh Sameer Mahandru. The Excise officials iss ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 20-30 crores from Sh. Abhishek Boinpally through Sh. Dinesh Arora and in lieu of the same influenced the officers of M/s Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd as well as the officers of Excise Department of GNCT of Delhi to get the distributorship of M/s Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd and L1 license for M/s Indo Spirits for which the same was not entitled. 11. Since the Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. 1988 are scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement has initiated an investigation in the matter by recording an ECIR No. ECIR/HIU-II/14/2022 on 22.08.2022. The investigation under PMLA is being conducted by the Directorate for tracing out Proceeds of Crime generated and laundered due to the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Excise policy 2021-22. Further, ED has filed a Prosecution Complaint dated 26.11.2022 arraying Sameer Mahandru and others as accused before the Hon'ble Special Court (PMLA). The Ld. Court has taken cognizance of the same vide its order dated 20.12.2022. Thereafter, 1 st Supplementary Prosecution Complaint dated 0 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ject of the ongoing investigation, was in fact directed by and conspired with Sh Vijay Nair to give their wholesale distribution business to the accused M/s Indo Spirits (L1 wholesaler), which is a part of the Super Cartel including Sh. Abhishek Boinpally. e. Sh Vijay Nair, who has orchestrated this entire scam is not an ordinary worker of the AAP but a close associate of Sh Arvind Kejriwal, the CM of Delhi and was closely interacting with the Dy CM for the Excise policy related matters. Sh Vijay Nair, as per his statement under section 50 of PMLA, 2002 functions from the camp office of Sh Arvind Kejriwal, CM, Delhi. Further, Sh Vijay Nair, since 2020, has been residing in the Govt bungalow allotted to a Cabinet Minister of Delhi Govt, Sh Kailash Gehlot, part of GoM of Excise Policy 2021-22. Sh Vijay Nair, does not have any other residence in Delhi. Irony being, Sh Gehlot lives at another private residence in Najafgarh. f. Sh Vijay Nair had arranged meeting of the owner/controller of Indo Spirits Sh Sameer Mahandru, with Sh Arvind Kejriwal, CM, Delhi and when that didn't materialise, he arranged a video call through facetime on his phone for Sh Sameer and Sh Arvind Kejriwal, wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gh Hawala Channels. Teams led by Sh Vijay Nair have directed certain firms to even issue bogus invoices. k. These kickbacks were paid in advance to the AAP leaders through Vijay Nair by the South Group as a part of agreement between the South Group and the AAP leaders. Against the kickbacks paid, the south group secured uninhibited access, undue favours, attained stakes in established wholesale businesses and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy). In one of the ways to recover/recoup the kickbacks given by the South Group, partners of the South group were given 65% stakes in Indo Spirits in collusion with the accused Sh Sameer Mahandru. The South group controlled these stakes in Indo Spirits, through false representation, concealment of true ownership and proxies i.e. Sh Arun Pillai and Sh Prem Rahul. This partnership formation was directed by Sh Vijay Nair on the assurance of giving the wholesale business of Pernod Ricard to Indo Spirits. l. The gravity and depth of this criminal conspiracy is such that to grant L1 wholesale license to Indo Spirits despite various complaints highlighting Sameer's and Indospirit Marketing Pvt Ltd's role in ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... direct profits accruing from the wholesale business of Indo Spirits, modus operandi for recovering the kickback paid in advance by the South group, monies in the form of outstanding from the ostensible sales from the wholesale of Indo Spirit to Retail of the South group with an understanding that the outstanding was not to be recovered and the amount will be shown as recoverable in the books of account. Sh Sarath Reddy's controlled entities owed over Rs. 60 Cr (approx.) to Indo Spirits, which is shown as outstanding but was not meant to be recovered as part of the conspiracy. p. The retail business was lucrative and the turnover was huge on daily basis. Further, the retail sales were in cash and not credit based, meaning thereby the generation of funds/recovery of the purchase cost was immediate. Thus, there was no valid reason for not repaying the outstanding towards the wholesaler either on the same day or soonest after. q. Another novel method of recovery of the kickbacks was through passing of Credit Notes. Ordinarily the credit notes are passed to the person who had direct nexus with or has sold the goods, however, in this business, the manufacturers were giving credit not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the ED does not disclose any offence under Section 3 of the PMLA against the Applicant herein. It has been submitted that the offence of money laundering under Section 3 PMLA is totally independent in terms of actus reus and mens rea from the Scheduled Offence. Learned senior counsels have submitted that there is no material on record to show that the Applicant directly or indirectly attempted to indulge, or knowingly assisted or knowingly was a party to a process of activity connected with the proceeds of crime. In this regard, reliance has also been placed upon Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary vs. Union of India 2022 SCC OnLine SC 929. It has been submitted that ED cannot resort to action against any person for money laundering on an assumption that the property recovered by them must be proceeds of crime and that a scheduled offence has been committed. Learned senior counsels submitted that the offence of money laundering is an independent offence and only involvement in concealment, possession, acquisition, or use of proceeds of a crime connected with the proceeds of crime would constitute the offence of money laundering. Learned senior counsels have submitted that the investigation d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s been submitted that therefore, the court should not place undue reliance on the statement under Section 50 PMLA as the same is to be tested at the stage of trial. Learned senior counsels have submitted that accepting the statement under Section 50 PMLA at this stage would amount to accepting the version of ED as the gospel truth. 7. Learned senior counsels have submitted that the statements of various public servants namely C.Arvind Kumar, Rahul Singh, Sanjay Goel and Arva Gopi Krishna are self-serving statements without any corroboration. It has been submitted that the ED has relied primarily on the statement of the abovesaid and other public servants to substantiate the allegations that the Applicant formulated the Excise Policy contrary to expert opinion/mala fide as well as other allegations such as the grant of license to M/s Indo-Spirit. It has been submitted that these statements were recorded in 2022-23 whereas the events in question took place in 2021 and the same are contradictory to the official record. Learned senior counsels have submitted that it has to be taken into account that why these public servants did not make any statement or flagged the issue at the releva ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the statement dated 01.10.2022 and the statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C., a day prior. Learned senior counsels have submitted that transfer of address at the behest of Amit Arora was approved by Rahul Singh, the then excise commissioner and the Applicant only approved the same in a routine way. 11. It has been submitted that even Dinesh Arora nowhere stated that Applicant Manish Sisodia was involved in or was aware of any of the alleged kickbacks or meetings relating to the same. Learned senior counsel have submitted that only on 06.04.2023, for the first time, Mr. Dinesh Arora stated that Applicant Manish Sisodia had directed him to meet Mr. Vijay Nair in relation to work of the Excise Policy. It has been submitted that the statements made by Dinesh Arora at various stages suffers from material contradictions. Learned senior counsels have submitted that similarly the statements of Arun Pillai and G. Butchi Babu are equally unreliable and are hearsay insofar as they relate to the role of the Applicant Manish Sisodia. It has been submitted that the statements of these witnesses cannot be read against the Applicant Manish Sisodia. It has further been submitted that as per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... examination returned the file with certain suggestions on 19.05.2021 including suggestions on the related party which was duly incorporated. It has been submitted that thereafter after thorough scrutiny by several departments the Excise Policy was notified on 17.11.2021. 15. Learned senior counsels have further submitted that the wrongdoing has been attributed against the applicant but the role of the Planning, Law and Finance departments as well as Hon ble LG has not been examined by the ED. Learned senior counsels have further submitted that the allegation of the ED that the new policy was framed to derive benefits which were not available under the Old Policy is without any basis. It has been submitted that the government was kept outside the business of liquor being in tune of contemporary economic standards of disinvestment. It has further been submitted that in fact in the new policy margin was kept at 12%. It has also been submitted that there were also valid policy considerations supporting the increase of profit margin from 5% to 12%. 16. Learned senior counsels have submitted that the license fee for the wholesalers was increased from Rs.5 lakhs to Rs.5 crores and furthe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ge incentives to cheat and indulge in the selling of Non- Duty paid Liquor. It has also been submitted that in the old policy the wholesaler, manufacturer and retailer were the same entity therefore it led to Brand Pushing. It has also been submitted that in the new policy the illegal activity of cartelization, sale of non-duty paid liquor and huge profit margins were plugged by firstly, delinking wholesalers, manufactures and retailers and secondly by capping the profit margins at 12%. It has been submitted that rather in the new policy, the process was streamlined. 19. Learned senior counsels have further submitted that in any case, it was not obligatory to accept the Ravi Dhawan Committee report though certain recommendations of the committee report were duly accepted. It has been submitted that merely because the expert committee report was not accepted wrongdoing cannot be attributed to the Applicant. Learned senior counsels have submitted that opinions of the two former CJIs and former Attorney General were in fact obtained by retailers who were enjoying licenses under the old policies and wanted to retain their businesses where profit margin could go up to 70%. It has been s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 22 led to an increase in the revenue which is apparent on the record. Learned senior counsels have submitted that the allegations of proceeds of crime of Rs.622 crores as alleged by the ED is baseless, erroneous and futile and are not supported by any evidentiary document to show that any such transaction has ever taken place and no recovery of alleged amount has been made. It has been submitted that the amount alleged to be given by Amit Arora is denied by Dinesh Arora. Moreover, the mode of the transaction was also contradicted by Amit Arora on his own statements making him them completely sham statements. 24. It has further been submitted that the alleged kickbacks of 100 Crores from the so-called South Group was never proved and no recovery has been effected. It has further been submitted that the existence of 'South Group' is merely a cooked story of the ED. It has further been submitted that the allegations of bribe given to Sh. Aman Dhall through excess Credit Notes is merely an allegation made on hearsay evidence without any substantial proof. 25. It has further been submitted that allegations in relation to the execution of an alleged MOU between the Applicant and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed upon Sanjay Agarwal v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1748, Ramchand Karunakaran v. ED, Order dt. 23.09.2022 in Crl. A. No. 1650 of 2022, Sajay U Desai v. SFIO, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1507, Jainam Rathod v. State of Haryana, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1522, Raman Bhuraria v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2023 SCC OnLine Del 657 and CBI v. Kuldeep Singh Ors, Order dt. 28.02.2023. 30. Learned senior counsels have submitted this court is required to examine the allegations against the Applicant on the scale of broad probabilities. It has been submitted that the ED has not placed any convincing material on record to show that the Applicant had any knowledge of the conspiracy to commit acts specifically punishable under Section 3 of PMLA. And therefore mens rea is hopelessly absent in this case. It has further been submitted that there is no material on the record to show that the Applicant has been involved in the alleged money paid at any point of time. In addition to this the bail has also been sought on the ground the medical condition of the wife of the Applicant is serious as she suffers from an incurable neurodegenerative disorder namely Multiple Sclerosis. 31. Learned senio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch would allow astronomical illegal gains to various private entities involved in the liquor cartel which was done in return of kickbacks received by various AAP leaders. 33. Learned ASG submitted that Manish Sisodia was not only the head of the Group of Ministers but he was also the excise minister and played a key role in modifying the terms of the liquor policy in a manner which would benefit the cartel members. It has been submitted that deviation from expert committee report was made to enable and create an ecosystem, which would benefit the cartel members in lieu of the receipt of kickbacks by AAP leaders. It has been submitted that instead of individual runs private vends with the lottery system, the applicant preferred the auction of retail vends as per limited entity model. It has been submitted that the model preferred by the petitioner permitted one entity to have two zones, which would in effect, give them control over 27 shops in each zone. It has been submitted that this itself led to the cartelization as well as a concentration of retail vends in the hand of few entities. 34. Learned ASG further submitted that the wholesale business which involves procurement of liqu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .03.2021 and 20.03.2021 recovered from the phone of Butchi Babu which refers to the assertion that the south group was actively interfering in the formulation of the policy. Learned ASG has further submitted that statement of Mr.Zakir Khan dated 28.03.2023, statement of Kartikeya Azad dated 24.03.2023, statement of Vanshika dated 21.03.2023, Statement of C.Arvind dated 21.03.2023 and statement of Alok dated 14.03.2023 affirms that Mr.Manish Sisodia procured the emails in support of the new excise policy. 39. Learned ASG has further submitted that Mr.Vijay Nair who was representing Aam Aadmi Party's side in the entire liquor scam and was managing the conspiracy of kickbacks, undue favours, arm twisting etc. received Rs. 100 Cr from the south group as an advance Kickback on behalf of AAP and in exchange facilitated them in getting stakes in different wholesale businesses such as Indo Spirits and then directed big manufacturer to them to help them recover the advance kickbacks paid, apart from other undue favour awarded to the South Group. Learned ASG submitted that Vijay Nair acquired this PoC of Rs. 100 Cr as kickbacks on behalf of the top leaders of the AAP and then used the pa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ral Administration Department, Delhi Government. Reference has also been made to the statement of Mahender Chaudhary for derailing the investigation. Learned ASG submitted that thus the petitioner is not entitled to be admitted to bail. D. FINDING AND ANALYSIS: 43. The offence of money laundering has been defined in section 3 of the PMLA, which reads as under: 3. Offence of money-laundering. Whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assists or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property shall be guilty of offence of money-laundering. 44. The 'proceeds of crime' has been defined under Section 2 (u) of PMLA, which reads as under: (u) proceeds of crime means any property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence or the value of any such property 3 [or where such property is taken or held outside the country, then the property equivalent in value held within the country] 4 [or abroad]; 45. Regarding proceeds of crime and the scope and ambit of Section 3 of PMLA has been ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Explanation) predicates that if a person is found to be directly or indirectly involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime must be held guilty of offence of moneylaundering. If the interpretation set forth by the petitioners was to be accepted, it would follow that it is only upon projecting or claiming the property in question as untainted property, the offence would be complete. This would undermine the efficacy of the legislative intent behind Section 3 of the Act and also will be in disregard of the view expressed by the FATF in connection with the occurrence of the word and preceding the expression projecting or claiming therein. This Court in Pratap Singh v. State of Jharkhand, enunciated that the international treaties, covenants and conventions although may not be a part of municipal law, the same be referred to and followed by the Courts having regard to the fact that India is a party to the said treaties. This Court went on to observe that the Constitution of India and other ongoing statutes have been read consistently with the rules of international law. It is also observed that the Constitution of India and the enactments made by Parliam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ould result in conviction. It is also a settled proposition that at this stage the Court is only required to examine the matter to find out whether the accused was possessed of the requisite mens rea. It is also no longer res integra that the court is not required to record a positive finding that the accused had not committed the offence under the Act. It is also a settled proposition that the court at this stage is not required to weigh the evidence meticulously. The court is only required to arrive at a finding on the basis of broad probabilities. It is also a settled proposition that the court is not required to hold a mini trial at this stage and is required to examine the case on the basis of broad probabilities. It is also to be kept in mind that while exercising the jurisdiction under Section 45 of PMLA, the court is required to take into consideration the limitations prescribed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. 47. In regard to the limitation under Section 439 Cr.P.C. in Kalyan Chandra Sarkar vs Rajesh Ranjhan (2004) 7 SCC 528 it has been held as under: The law in regard to grant or refusal of bail is very well settled. The court granting bail should exercise its discretion in a j ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country. 50. The bare reading of Section 3 of PMLA would make it clear if a person is involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use and projecting or claiming it as untainted property shall be guilty offence of money laundering. Therefore, it is not necessary to attribute section 3 of the PMLA that the alleged person must have acquired or in possession of the proceeds of the crime. If a person has actually been involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, it would be sufficient to prosecute him under Section 3 of PMLA. The argument that the proceeds of crime have not been received or the proceeds of crime has not been recovered and therefore section 3 of the PMLA will not come into operation is totally fallacious and is liable to be rejected. It is necessary to keep in mind that such crimes are committed in a deep conspiracy and under the dark cover. An act may not be an offence at all if it is done in relation to any process or activity not connected with t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... so that he received illegal gratification from Amit Arora for putting an NOC clause for granting benefits to Amit Arora. The allegation against Manish Sisodia is also that M/s Indospirit was created as a special purpose vehicle to generate the proceeds of crime. 54. The plea raised by the defence is the ED has no material other than an inconsistent and unreliable statement of either co-accused or the public servants. The defence has raised a plea that in absence of any independent corroboration or material on record to substantiate such statements under Section 50 PMLA, the court on the basis of probability should record a finding that accused persons are not guilty of such offence. The defence, during the course of their arguments, have repeatedly stated that the ED has cooked up the case merely on the basis of whims and fancies and there are contradictions in the testimonies of the witnesses. The defence has assailed the testimony of approver Dinesh Arora and has submitted that Dinesh Arora has made the statement under the influence of ED and to protect himself. It is also the case of the defence that the public servants who are under the direct control of Hon'ble LG, who is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sed on the statements under Section 50 PMLA cannot be taken as gospel truth but at the same, the court has to take into account the probabilities and the legislative intent behind enacting Section 50 PMLA. The statements under Section 50 PMLA are not akin to Section 161 Cr.P.C. The bare perusal of Section 50 makes it clear that these are deemed to be judicial proceedings. There are consequences for making a false statement or not complying to the summons under Section 50 of PMLA as provided under Section 63 of the PMLA. 58. This court at this stage cannot go into the probative value of the witnesses nor can it meticulously examine those facts. The involvement of the third parties in the formulating and drafting of the policy certainly points at mens rea. The jurisdiction of bail is a discretionary jurisdiction. But this discretion has to be exercised on the settled principles in a judicial manner. The court has to bring in its judicial experience to arrive at a conclusion, which should be rational and logical. It is pertinent to mention that the accused and complainant/prosecution are entitled to know the reasons on the basis of which their bail application has been decided, but at ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on of Applicant Manish Sisodia was rejected by the Learned Special Judge vide a detailed order dated 28.04.2023. While rejecting the said bail application the learned trial court observed that considering the evidence placed on record it can clearly be inferred that the applicant herein was connected with the generation of proceeds of crime of around 100 Crores in the form of kickbacks which were paid by the South lobby to the co-accused Vijay Nair, through the coaccused Abhishek Boinpally, who had been participating in the above said meetings held with different conspirators and stakeholders in liquor business. He ensured undue pecuniary benefits to the conspirators and members of the cartel which was permitted to be formed by manipulation of some provisions of the excise policy and by insertion of some favorable clauses therein for the benefit of conspirators. 62. Learned trial court inter alia held that the evidence clearly suggests that tweaking and manipulation of the excise policy by the applicant and owing to the cartel which was permitted to be formed and by limiting the participation of wholesalers, lead to creation of the POC. M/s Indospirits also earned huge profits to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ears is not a ground to enlarge the Applicant on bail as this factor is required to be considered in totality with the other factors while deciding the grant or refusal of bail. In the present case, the seriousness or gravity of the offence and its nature or category, the capacity of applicant in which it has been committed, the manner of its commission and also certain other factors like impact of the offence as well as the possible impact of release of applicant on society etc. are the factors which go against the applicant and force this court to decide against his release on bail. 67. Learned court further observed that it had dismissed the bail application of the Applicant in the scheduled offences case of CBI vide its order dated 31.03.2023 wherein the court was of prima facie view that the possibility of destruction of or tampering with the evidence by him could not be ruled out, in view of the specific allegations levelled against him of such destruction or tampering by way of not producing his three out of four mobile phones before the IO as the same were expected to contain some vital piece of evidence regarding commission of the alleged offences and his involvement there ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... % stake was given to South Group in Indo-Spirits to make it a mechanism for continuous generation and channelisation of Proceeds of Crime. In furtherance of the conspiracy, the investigation also revealed that Pernod Ricard by way of conspiracy got EDP (Ex-distillery price) fixed without deducting the discount/rebates they offer and thus got the price fixed at much higher price for their brands and earned huge additional profit which was ineligible to them and should have been passed to the consumers as lower MRP. The investigation has also revealed that if the PRI had registered the brands at actual lowest EDP, the capacity of the manufacturer to give out credit notes would have been limited. Pernod Ricard issued credit notes of 131.9 crore to retailers which actually should have been passed to the consumers. 72. If we sum up the case of the Directorate of Enforcement, allegations and the material on record indicate that profit margin was increased from 5% to 12% without having any discussion taken place in the GoM as indicated by the statement of Sanjay Goel, (the then Excise Commissioner) dated 17.02.2023, statement of C.Arvind, DANICS (the then Secretary to Manish Sisodia) date ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ommissioner) dated 15.02.2023, statement of Sanjay Goel, (the then Excise Commissioner) dated 17.02.2023, statement of C.Arvind dated 21.03.2023, statement of Praveen Kumar Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, GAD AR dated 02.05.2023 and Pravesh Ranjan Jha, Additional Secretary, General Administration Department dated 01.05.2023. The ED has also alleged that he petitioner had also destructed the evidence to derail the investigation. Thus, the gravity of the allegations against the petitioner are very serious in nature and in view of the peculiar facts, this matter has to be visited with a different approach as a deep rooted conspiracy involving huge loss of public funds has been alleged. 78. This court has also gone through the order of the learned Special Judge dated 28.04.2023 and do not find infirmity or illegality in the said order. Learned Special Judge has passed a reasoned order on the basis of material available on record. This court has also rejected the bail application of the accused i.e. Bail Application No.1097/2023 titled as Manish Sisodia vs. CBI vide order dated 30.05.2023. This court inter alia was of the view that in view of the high political positions held by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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