Allegations of political influence on approver in Delhi liquor case unsubstantiated

The allegations and argument that one of the accused-turned-approvers in the Delhi excise case—in which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is now in ED custody—was acting on political directions, since he had donated money to the Bharatiya Janata Party through electoral bonds, is unlikely to hold much water in the court of law.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

The accused-turned-approver, P. Sarath Chandra Reddy, director of the Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma, was arrested by the ED in November 2022. He turned approver in the excise case in June 2023.

In this seven-month period, Aurobindo Pharma donated Rs 5 crore to the BJP, five days after Reddy was arrested. The said company gave another Rs 25 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds after Reddy had turned approver.
This series of events is being cited as proof that Sarath is “biased” and had turned approver because of political pressure and hence his testimony as approver should not carry weight.

However, while the said accused was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on whose First Investigation Report the ED has based its investigation, had completed its investigation much before that.

Apart from relying on its investigation, the ED’s findings in the case are based on the report that was submitted to Delhi Lieutenant General by Delhi Chief Secretary in July 2022, which formed the basis of the CBI FIR.

The very first official document related to the investigation in the case, that was carried out by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, was submitted to LG V.K. Saxena, on 8 July 2022.
The said inquiry report had, in great detail, explained how and why the excise policy was flawed and why there was a strong suspicion that alleged financial irregularities were committed and undue favour extended to favourite vendors.
The report has no mention of either Aurobindo Pharma or Reddy.