Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Hyderabad Businessman Abhishek Boinpally In Delhi Liquor Policy Case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (March 20) granted interim bail to Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally, accused in a money laundering case related to Delhi liquor policy, for four weeks.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta passed the interim order while hearing Boinpally's Special Leave Petition filed against the judgment delivered by the Delhi High Court in July 2023 denying him bail. 

The bench will hear the matter next on April 29.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that he has been under custody since October 9, 2022. He also sought for bail on medical grounds.

The bench ordered the petitioner's release on interim bail for four weeks from the date he is released on the terms and conditions to be fixed by the trial court. The bench directed that the petitioner will provide one telephone number, on which the officers of the Enforcement Directorate can contact him. The passport of the petitioner has to be surrendered and he cannot leave the territory of the National Capital Region without the permission of the Court. The Court also stated that the petitioner will be entitled to travel to his hometown Hyderabad.

The Court listed his matter along with the case Prem Prakash v. Union of India stating that common legal questions are arising in both. 

Boinpally, a former director of Robin Distilleries LLP and an alleged middleman is among the people who are being investigated. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in October 2022, but one month later he got bail in the CBI case. However, this relief was short-lived as at the same time Special Judge MK Nagpal also allowed the Enforcement Directorate's plea to take Boinpally into custody for five days. Boinpally has been under incarceration since October 2022 as a trial court.

Last year, the Supreme Court granted bail to Benoy Babu, Regional Manager of Pernod Ricard India(Indian subsidiary of global liquor company), in the money laundering case in connection with the Delhi liquor policy, after observing that there were certain contradictions between the allegations of the ED and the CBI.

In October 2023, the Supreme Court Court denied bail to Manish Sisodia, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, who is an accused in the case.

Abhishek Boinpally v. Directorate of Enforcement | Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 9038 of 2023

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