Delhi Excise Policy case: Delhi High Court grants bail to Aurobindo Pharma's P Sarath Chandra Reddy

The Delhi High Court has granted bail on medical grounds to Aurobindo Pharma's P Sarath Reddy, a key member of the "South group" accused of paying ₹100 crore kickbacks to government functionaries in the Delhi Excise Policy case [P Sarath Chandra Reddy v. ED]..Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma set a bail amount of ₹1 lakh with two sureties, directed Reddy to surrender his passport and barred him from travelling without the Court’s permission. While granting bail, the Court highlighted,"Right to live with dignity includes right to live a healthy life. The person who is sick or infirm has a right to have adequate and effective treatment. Though jails and designated hospitals provide good basic treatment, we cannot expect them to provide specialised treatment and monitoring as required in the present case.".Reddy’s medical report had indicated that he was in a bad state and could be categorised as sick or infirm. Appearing for Reddy, senior counsel Vikas Pahwa argued submitted that though there was no specific averment regarding grant of bail on medical grounds, the question being involved of the liberty of an individual.While Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju opposed the bail plea on merits, he argued that in view the medical condition of the petitioner, an appropriate order can be passed. The Court noted that the ASG had also submitted that during the petitioner’s time on bail he hadn’t violated any of the conditions or tampered with evidence.“In view of the medical record being furnished by the petitioner and the submissions made by learned ASG, the petitioner is admitted to bail on furnishing a personal bond in the sum of ₹1 lakh with two sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court…,” it held..However, the order clarified that bail had been granted purely on Reddy's medical conditions and shall not be taken as a precedent. .On August 17, 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case in connection with the alleged irregularities over the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. The case was registered after the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena made a complaint on July 20, 2022.On the basis of the CBI case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case on the money laundering aspect against the accused persons on August 22, 2022.A criminal conspiracy was alleged on the part of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others including unidentified and unnamed persons/entities during the stage of the Policy’s formulation..A Delhi court recently granted bail to two other accused in the case - Rajesh Joshi and Gautam Malhotra..Reddy was represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa and advocates Mayank Jain, Parmatma Singh, Madhur Jain, Vivek Chandra Jaiswal, Lakshay Raj, Prabhav Ralli and Namisha Jain.ED was represented by ASG S V Raju and advocates Zoheb Hossain, A Venkatesh and Vivek Gurnan..[Read order].Explained: The Delhi Excise Policy case and events leading to the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia