Excise scam: Focus on quality of prosecution, not number: SC to CBI
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall in a corruption case lodged by the CBI in relation to the Delhi excise policy scam, noting that he had been in jail for 557 days and all other accused were already out on bail.
A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan enlarged Dhall on bail, noting that there were around 300 witnesses to be examined by the CBI and the trial was yet to commence.
The top court ordered that he would be released on bail on conditions fixed by the trial court.
The order came after senior counsel Siddharth Dave submitted on behalf of the petitioner that he had already got bail in the money laundering case linked to the scam, but he continued to be in jail as the Delhi High Court turned down his bail plea.
On behalf of the CBI, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Raja Thakre opposed Dhall’s bail.
Dhall, director of Brindco Sales Pvt Ltd, was arrested by the CBI on April 18, 2023. He had challenged the Delhi High Court’s June 2024 order rejecting his bail plea, apprehending that he might influence witnesses and tamper with evidence.
With this, all the accused, including senior AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh and BRS leader K Kavitha, have been enlarged on bail in cases related to the excise policy scam.
The Bench asked the CBI to focus on the quality of prosecution to secure conviction. "Today, the message to hardened, white-collar criminals is that somehow either you remain inside, then get away, nothing will happen. Your conviction rate...you must concentrate on that. The quality of your witnesses needs to be focused on, instead of number," Justice Kant said.
In August last year, an FIR was lodged against Dhall and his father for allegedly giving Rs 5 crore to a chartered accountant to arrange help in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in respect of the money laundering probe linked to the scam.
The high court had last month granted regular bail to Dhall and businessman Amit Arora in the case lodged by the ED. Arora, director of Gurugram-based Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd, was earlier granted interim bail by the court on medical grounds.
The ED and the CBI alleged irregularities in the modified excise policy to extend undue favours to licence holders as the fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval. The policy was later scrapped.
