Delhi Excise Policy Scam: CBI books ED assistant director, clerk accused of taking bribe of ₹5 crore

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked one Pawan Khatri, an assistant director at the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) for allegedly demanding ₹5 crore from liquor businessman Amandeep Dhall to evade action in the Delhi excise policy scam..According to PTI, the agency has also named Dhall’s father Birender Pal Singh, Deepak Sangwan (Air India assistant general manager), Vikramaditya (CEO of Claridges Hotels and Resorts), Praveen Kumar Vats (a chartered accountant) and Nitesh Kohar (a clerk with ED) in the first information report (FIR).PTI cited sources and said that CBI conducted searches at six locations related to the accused and recovered 2.19 crore.Sources told the news agency that the FIR was registered based on the complaint by the ED alleging that Dhall’s father had paid ₹5 crore bribe to Vats in tranches of ₹50 lakh from December 2022 onwards to help his son in the probe.It has been stated that ED officers booked were not part of the probe in the excise policy case but materials related to the case were recovered from them. They have been booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act..The CBI and ED have been probing the excise policy case since last year. The high profile case led to the arrest of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who is still in jail. His bail has been denied by the trial court as well as High Court.It is alleged that Sisodia and other members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) connived to grant liquor licenses to certain traders in exchange for bribes.The central agencies' case is that the excise policy was tweaked and the profit margins were changed in a manner that benefited certain traders and kickbacks were received in exchange for the same.The ED and the CBI registered cases in relation to the alleged scam after Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe based on a report by the Delhi Chief Secretary. The report claimed that Sisodia violated statutory provisions and notified a policy that had significant financial implications.