Excise case: Delhi court sends bizman Amandeep Singh Dhal to CBI remand till April 21

New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday sent Delhi-based businessman Amandeep Singh Dhal to CBI remand till April 21, 2023, in connection with the excise policy case.

Dhal is a director of Brindco Sales and was earlier arrested by the ED in a money-laundering case pertaining to the alleged excise scam. Amandeep Dhal was arrested by CBI on Tuesday from Tihar Jail in a corruption case related to excise policy.
Special Judge MK Nagpal on Wednesday allowed a CBI plea seeking Dhall's remand.
The same court had last week allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to examine and quiz Dhall in Delhi's Tihar Jail in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.

Dhall was lodged in Tihar Jail, in judicial custody, in connection with a money laundering case, which is tied to the excise case. He has moved a bail plea in the ED case and a hearing on the same has been scheduled for April 26.

The CBI, through an application, stated, "Some fresh evidence has surfaced which requires further examination of Amandeep Singh Dhall to unearth the conspiracy hatched between the accused in relation to the Excise case".
The executive director of Brindco Sales Private Limited, Dhall was arrested on March 1, 2023, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the Excise case.
The CBI also informed the court that the agency, earlier, examined him in the case before his arrest by the ED.
On Monday, Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta, arguing for ED, submitted in court that they are filing the next chargesheet (Prosecution Complaint) against Manish Sisodia, Dhal and Arun Ramchandra Pillai by the end of this month in connection with the money laundering case related to irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy.

According to the ED, Dhal allegedly conspired with other persons and is actively involved in the formulation of the liquor policy and facilitating kickbacks to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its recoupment by the South Group through various means.

The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the approval of the competent authority.

The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.
It alleged that the Excise department had decided to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This allegedly caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer, which has been instituted on a reference from the Union Home Ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. (ANI)