Delhi Excise Scam: Delhi Court Grants Bail for Two Accused in Money Transfer Case

A Delhi court has granted bail to two accused, Chanpreet Singh Rayat and Arvind Kumar Singh, who were accused of facilitating the transfer of Rs 44 crore kickbacks from Delhi to Goa for election expenses of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in connection with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

Special Judge M K Nagpal granted the bail on the grounds that the accused had no role in formulating or implementing the excise policy. They were also not associated with the ‘South lobby,’ which allegedly paid kickbacks to co-accused Vijay Nair and Manish Sisodia or any other politician of AAP for favorable clauses in the policy.

The judge stated that the accused were linked only to the outflow of money from Delhi to Goa concerning AAP’s election-related expenses and that it would be a matter of trial to determine if their actions constituted part of a criminal conspiracy related to the policy.

The accused were employees or associates of Rajesh Joshi, a co-accused whose company, Chariot Productions Media Pvt. Ltd., handled AAP’s advertising during the Goa assembly elections. The judge observed that Rajesh Joshi and Mootha Gautham, also co-accused, were not arrested, raising questions about the seriousness of the roles of Chanpreet Singh Rayat and Arvind Kumar Singh in the alleged offenses.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the bail, arguing that the accused were involved in the illegal transfer of money from Delhi to Goa through Hawala channels for AAP’s election expenses in Goa.

The excise policy, which faced allegations of irregularities involving government authorities, bureaucrats, and liquor traders, was scrapped in August of the previous year, leading to a CBI probe recommended by the Delhi lieutenant governor.