Excise Case: Delhi Court seeks ED response on AAP’s Vijay Nair interim bail plea

The Special Judge MK Nagpal issued notice to the probe agency and listed the matter for January 18, 2024, on the application seeking bail on the health grounds.

New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue court on Monday sought the Enforcement Directorate’s response to the interim bail plea of former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair, arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

The Special Judge MK Nagpal issued notice to the probe agency and listed the matter for January 18, 2024, on the application seeking bail on the health grounds. Plea claims that the accused was suffering from various ailments.

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The court noted that the application moved U/S 439 Cr.P.C. r/w Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, on behalf of Vijay Nair, seeking the grant of interim bail to him on medical grounds.

Issue notice of this application to ED for January 18, 2024. Let the medical report of the applicant also be called from the jail superintendent concerned for the said date, said the court.

Earlier, the trial court had denied Nair’s default bail in the matter.

Nair had stated that he was only the media and communications in charge of the AAP and was not involved in the drafting, framing or implementation of the excise policy in any manner, and that he was being “victimised” for his political affiliation.

Nair stated that the allegations against him are wrong, false and baseless.

He asserted that his arrest by Enforcement Directorate was completely illegal and “appears to be motivated by extraneous considerations,” given that the special court was expected to pronounce orders on his bail plea in the corruption case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its chargesheet against Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, claimed that Sisodia supported Vijay Nair’s criminal activities.

The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval.

The L-1 licence is granted to a business entity having wholesale distribution experience in the liquor trade in any state for at least five years.