New Delhi, Oct 14 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday granted regular bail to Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and Justice Aravind Kumar converted its earlier order by which it had granted interim bail to Boinpally into regular bail.
The bench granted regular bail to Boinpally on the condition that he would surrender his passport and directed him not to leave the National Capital Region except for a visit to Hyderabad.
Boinpally had filed a plea in the Apex Court challenging a July 3, 2023, order of the Delhi High Court which dismissed his petition questioning the legality of his arrest in 2022.
He had challenged the arrest made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before the high court on the grounds of non-compliance with section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) which deals with the procedure for arrests.
Section 19 of the PMLA empowers ED officers to arrest people based on the material in their possession, providing a reasonable basis to suspect that an individual has committed an offence punishable under the law.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED, irregularities were committed by the Kejriwal Government while implementing the new excise policy for 2021-22 on November 17, 2021. The new excise policy was scrapped at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
It was alleged that while modifying the excise policy undue favours were extended to the licence holders.
The money-laundering case stems from a CBI FIR that was lodged after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the excise policy.
ED alleged Boinpally was part of meetings related to the policy and was involved in a conspiracy to launder money along with another accused Sameer Mahendru, a businessman also accused in the liquor scam.
