Delhi Liquor Policy Case | SC Refuses to Entertain ED’s Plea Against Interim Bail Granted by HC to Businessman Sameer Mahandru

A division bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi was hearing an appeal preferred by the central agency against the June 12 order of the Delhi High Court.

Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, vehemently argued that the impugned order ought to be set aside. “Shocking order,” he exclaimed, “Since it is bad, it must go!” He added:

“Regular court does not grant bail on medical ground on in April. In May, a medical board is constituted which gives Mahandru a clean chit. This is ignored by the high court. A wrong order is passed based on incorrect facts. This is not to be treated as precedent. [He] is not entitled to a single day of bail.”

However, the apex court bench expressed its disinclination to interfere with the high court’s direction given that the period of interim bail would soon come to an end. Refusing to entertain the petition, the bench pronounced:

“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order granting interim bail till July 25, since it will run itself out in the next three weeks. Therefore, the petition is dismissed leaving the question of law open.”

Background

The origin of the controversy is the excise policy framed by the Government of the National Capital of Delhi to boost revenue and reform liquor trade in 2021, which was later withdrawn after allegations of irregularities in implementation were made and Lieutenant-Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the policy. This now-scrapped policy – which sought to completely privatise liquor trade in the national capital – was used to grant undue advantage to private entities at the cost of the public exchequer, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation claimed. The investigations are currently underway and led to the arrest of among others, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

One of the people implicated in this conspiracy is businessman Sameer Mahandru, who, according to the investigating agencies, was one of the major beneficiaries of the alleged irregularities in the excise policy. In September of last year, the ED took the liquor baron into custody in connection with its money laundering investigation. However, last month, the Delhi High Court granted Mahandru six weeks’ interimbail on medical grounds, which is scheduled to expire on July 25.

While the court ordered Mahandru to be released from custody forthwith, recently, it denied Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia interim bail in the same case, which he had sought citing the poor health condition of his wife.

Case Title

Enforcement Directorate v. Sameer Mahandru | Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 7438 of 2023

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