Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, arrested in a cash laundering case associated to the alleged Delhi excise rip-off, has moved a metropolis court docket accusing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of forging his statements within the matter.
The ED had claimed that he’s an in depth aide of BRS MLC and Telangana Chief Minister Okay Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter Okay Kavitha and an alleged frontman of the liquor cartel – “South Group” – that paid kickbacks amounting to about Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to acquire a bigger share of the market within the nationwide capital underneath the now-scrapped Delhi excise coverage for 2020-21.
Special Judge M Okay Nagpal has issued a discover to the ED on the appliance by Pillai and directed the company to file its reply by March 13.
In the appliance moved earlier than the court docket on Friday, Pillai’s lawyer sought to retract the statements reportedly recorded earlier than the company.
The accused claimed that ED forced him to sign two paperwork and introduced them as his statements, together with one in November 2022.
Pillai was arrested by the ED on March 6 and produced earlier than the court docket the subsequent day. The court docket then despatched him to ED custody which ends on March 13.
The company stated Pillai was an in depth affiliate of Kavita, who deposed earlier than the company on Saturday.
The ED alleged that Pillai represented the South Group in conferences with different accused when the coverage was being formulated and carried out.
The excise coverage was scrapped in August final 12 months and the Delhi lieutenant governor subsequently requested the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities and corruption involving authorities authorities, bureaucrats and liquor merchants, amongst others.
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