Page 7 - Excise Duty

Many states reduce excise duty on mild beer, make retailing easier

Beer to be allowed in certain offices in Haryana, other states allow its sale in stores and malls

Delhi excise case: HC grants bail to Reddy, says sick have treatment rights

Asserting that the sick or infirm have the right to adequate and effective treatment, the Delhi High Court granted bail to businessman P Sarath Chandra Reddy on medical grounds in a money laundering case related to the Delhi government's alleged excise scam. Although "good basic treatment" can be given to the accused in jail, the court cannot expect specialised treatment and monitoring which is required in the present case, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said on Monday. The judge said Reddy was in a "bad state" and qualified as "sick/infirm" in order to be released on bail in the money laundering case and there was no material on record to show that he was a flight risk. The court clarified that the order was passed in view of the accused's medical condition without going into the merits of the case and asked him not to travel without permission or tamper with evidence. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate, said the law on admitting an accuse

Delhi court extends Manish Sisodia's judicial custody till May 23

A Delhi court on Monday extended till May 23 the judicial custody of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal extended the custody of the AAP leader after he was produced before the court on expiry of his judicial custody granted earlier. The court noted the submission of the Enforcement Directorate's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta, who submitted that the agency has filed a supplementary charge sheet against the accused, which is scheduled for consideration on May 10. The court had earlier dismissed Sisodia's bail plea, saying "the case of economic offences has serious repercussions upon the general public and society at large as the evidence collected during investigation speaks volumes of his involvement in the commission of the said offence". The ED on March 9 arrested Sisodia in the liquor policy case. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier in its ongoing investigation of a case ..

Excise policy manipulated to favour cartelisation of liquor trade: CBI

The CBI Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 was manipulated to favour cartelisation and monopolisation in liquor trade in the national capital and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and businessman Vijay Nair were the main conspirators. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made the contention while opposing the bail plea of Sisodia who sought parity for him with other accused who have got the relief and claimed that the senior AAP leader was not in a position to influence the witnesses in the case or tamper with evidence. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, representing the CBI, to explain to him the whole scam for his understanding. ASG Raju said the accused wanted to make money but at the same time they wanted to show that they were transparent which they were not. It was a fraud, a scam whereby money was to be made. But they wanted to show they are transparent. Manufacturer

Tipplers beware! These liquor brands may soon go off the shelves in Delhi

Delhi Excise Department has not renewed the liquor sale licence of three big firms and distributors

Delhi court reserves order on Sisodia's bail plea in Excise policy scam

The bench said though 10 petitioners wanted it to be dealt with on a broader aspect we are restricting it and we are not going into personal laws etc.

Excise policy case: Manish Sisodia brought to court to attend proceedings

On Monday, Special Judge MK Nagpal extended Sisodia's judicial custody in the CBI case till April 27 and in the ED case till April 29

Windfall tax on crude oil slashed to Rs 3,500/tonne, duty on diesel hiked

Petrol and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) have been exempted from the export levy

Delhi excise policy scam case: K Kavitha's ex-auditor joins ED probe

Buchchi Babu on Wednesday joined the Enforcement Directorate's probe

Excise policy scam: Court seeks response from ED on Raghava Reddy's plea

The Special Judge MK Nagpal on Saturday issued notice to ED on the plea listed the matter for March 16, 2023, with detailed arguments

How Manish Sisodia's arrest poses a challenge to AAP's Delhi govt, Kejriwal

Sisodia has not only been the face of AAP's education policy in Delhi but also heads as many as 18 of the total 33 departments

Decoding Delhi's alleged 'liquor scam' that led to Manish Sisodia's arrest

Under the new, now-scrapped, excise policy, the state government allowed private vendors and shops to sell liquor in Delhi

More hiccups: No Dutch courage in Delhi govt's new excise policy

The new liquor policy promised several changes to the way alcoholic drinks are sold in Delhi

Centre slashes windfall tax on crude oil from Rs 5,050/tonne to Rs 4,350

Windfall tax: The additional excise duty on ATF has been cut to Rs 1.5 per litre from Rs 6 per litre earlier

ED arrests businessman Gautam Malhotra in Delhi excise policy scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested businessman Gautam Malhotra in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam.

Alcohol sales in India rose to a four-year high in 2022, says report

The rise was the sharpest in premium products with their portfolio now accounting for a fifth of all the whisky sold in India

ED attaches Rs 76.54 cr worth assets of accused in Excise policy scam

Houses located in upscale localities of Delhi and Mumbai, restaurants, 50 vehicles and bank deposits worth Rs 76.54 crore of various accused, including an AAP functionary, an alleged close associate of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and an associate of Telangana chief minister's daughter, have been attached in the Delhi excise policy money laundering case, the ED said Wednesday. It said in a statement that the agency has issued a provisional attachment order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for freezing the properties. The properties belong to arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair, Arun Pillai, a Hyderabad-based liquor businessman and a partner in a company called Robin Distilleries LLP whom the ED had said represented the 'south group' alleged cartel linked to Telangana chief minister's MLC daughter Kavitha and others, liquor businessman Sameer Mahandru, his wife Geetika Mahandru and their company Indospirit Group. The assets

Excise policy 'scam': ED attaches Rs 76.54 cr worth assets under PMLA

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached houses located in upscale localities of Delhi and Mumbai, restaurants, 50 vehicles and bank deposits worth Rs 76.54 crore in a money laundering case probe linked to the Delhi excise policy 'scam'. The properties belong to arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair, liquor businessman Sameer Mahandru, his wife and company Indospirit Group, businessman Dinesh Arora, Arun Pillai, Amit Arora, director of liquor company Buddy Retail Pvt Limited, and others, the agency said in a statement. An order for the provisional attachment of the assets has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The money laundering stems from a CBI FIR. Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and other excise officials of the government were named as accused in the CBI and the ED complaints. In its FIR, the CBI has alleged that Sisodia and other accused public servants recommended and took decisions pertaini

Delhi excise scam: ED files supplementary charge sheet against 12

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed a supplementary charge sheet against five individuals and seven companies before a court here in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam also involving Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The ED, however, did not name Sisodia as accused in the case, and told the judge that further investigation is going on in the mater. The report was filed before Special Judge M K Nagpal who will take up the matter for consideration on Saturday. The 2021-22 policy has now been scrapped after allegations of irregularities were made. The individuals named in the charge sheet are Vijay Nair, Sharath Reddy, Binoy Babu, Abhishek Boinpally and Amit Arora. This is the second prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed by the federal investigative agency in this case, registered under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The first was filed in November last year. A total of 12 entities, which inclu

Excise scam: Court extends judicial custody of four accused till Jan 7

A Delhi court on Monday extended till January 7 the judicial custody of four accused, arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam also involving Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Special Judge M K Nagpal extended the custody of businessmen Sharath Reddy, Binoy Babu, Vijay Nair and Abhishek Boinpally after they were produced before the court, noting that the bail petitions of all these accused is presently pending in this court for arguments on different dates. The special judge passed the order after noting the submissions of Enforcement Directorate's special public prosecutor N K Matta that the agency was in process of filing a supplementary charge sheet against all arrested accused. The ED told the court that the charge sheet is likely to be filed by January 6. The agency had earlier told the court that the next charge sheet would be common against all the arrested accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise