Excise policy: Delhi HC grants bail to businessmen Amit Arora, Amandeep Dhall in ED case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, 17 September granted bail to businessmen Amit Arora and Amandeep Singh Dhall in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

"Bail granted," said Justice Neena Bansal Krishna while granting relief to the two accused.

According to the Enforcement Directorate (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 17 November, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.

Arora, the director of Gurugram-based Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd, was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on 29 November, 2022.

The CBI had claimed that Arora was a close associate of AAP leader Manish Sisodia and the two were actively involved in "managing and diverting" the illicit money collected from liquor licensees. Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, held the excise portfolio when the policy was formulated.

According to the two central probe agencies, Dhall, a director of Brindco Sales Private Limited, allegedly conspired with other accused and was "actively" involved in the formulation of the liquor policy and facilitating kickbacks to the AAP and its recoupment by the "South Group" through various means.

According to the probe agencies, the "South Group" is a cartel of businessmen and politicians.

He was arrested by the ED in March last year.