Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia 'conspired' with others to frame a faulty excise policy in order to generate kickbacks and proceeds of crime to the tune of more than Rs 290 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged before a court in New Delhi on Friday.
The statement of Sunny Marwah, an accused in the Delhi excise policy case, has been recorded and he has given important information about the modus operandi of those named in the first information report (FIR) in connection with the liquor 'scam', Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials said on Monday.
Imarat-e-Sharia, a Patna based Muslim organization, has denied that it issued any fatwa against Bihar's Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf for being in charge of a department that deals with liquor and wine. Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband has reportedly upheld a fatwa against Ashraf by Imaret-e-Sharia. Ashraf told rediff.com that he will continue as the state's Excise Minister. "I will not change my ministry over a baseless controversy."
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said his party would pull off a spectacular victory in the state assembly elections, but evaded a direct reply to a question whether he would be the chief minister for the fifth time, as he just said 'Bharatiya Janata Party Zindabad'.
Liquor major Shaw Wallace will soon launch two new brands, one each in the whiskey and vodka segments.
The rise in material prices and excise duty is set to raise the prices of liquor brands across the country. According to officials of various companies, the brands will be costlier by 15-20 per cent from April.
Vijay Baghel and Jogi accuse the chief minister of prompting liquor vends across the state.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the two probe agencies, told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti he has instructions to state that the agencies are considering making AAP an accused, invoking legal provisions on "vicarious liability" under the anti-corruption law and section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Raising social security pension amounts, increasing financial assistance given under the 'Rythu Bandhu' investment support scheme for farmers and providing LPG cylinders at Rs 400 each are some of the promises made by the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti for the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana.
The police also moved an application seeking court's permission to produce Sisodia only via video conference, after he levelled the allegation.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought the Enforcement Directorate's stand on a plea by Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh against his arrest in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday raided the home of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 30 other locations in connection with alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.
In a disciplined force like the Indian Army seniority has all the importance, the Supreme Court said while commuting the life sentence of a non-commissioned officer held guilty for killing his colleague during an altercation over seniority.
This will pave the way for emergence of 24,000 new panchayat-level leaders in Telangana, he said.
Delhi deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia has been named as an accused in the case.
The premises of Uttar Pradesh-based liquor baron and businessman Ponty Chadha were on Wednesday searched by the income tax department in the state and at locations in Delhi in connection with alleged tax evasion.
The agency made this disclosure on Monday before a local court in Delhi while seeking an extension of custody of Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandran Pillai, whom it had arrested on March 6.
Sisodia, who was produced before the court on the expiry of his judicial custody, said before the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to stop Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's work in Delhi.
An expert committee, set up by the Supreme Court to probe allegations against the Adani group following a bombshell report from a US short seller, has members with potential conflict of interest, a fresh petition filed in the apex court on Monday said.
The CBI on Sunday deferred the questioning of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi Excise policy scam case after he sought time from the probe agency citing the city government's ongoing budget exercise.
The Bihar police will soon put to use Artificial intelligence technology to nab people involved in illegal liquor trade and other crimes, a senior police officer said on Friday.
The Delhi high court on Friday refused to interfere with the 'malicious' arrest of Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped excise policy of the Delhi government, saying it cannot impute political motive to a 'premier' investigating agency in the absence of material on record. It also said Singh's was not a 'prima facie case of no evidence at all'.
A bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said it will hear the petitions of the BRS leader and others after three weeks.
The man who threw the petrol bomb was immediately overpowered, they said
The below-average monsoon this year and the subsequent shortfall in the production of sugarcane in India will see the prices of Indian Made Foreign Liquor increase by 10-15 per cent in the next financial year, say industry experts.
The MLC daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao reached the ED office in central Delhi from the Tughlaq Road official residence of her father around 11.30 am and left shortly after 9.40 pm.
Defending the liquor ban in Bihar, he said that the state's prohibition policy has benefitted several people and a large number of people have given up drinking alcohol due to his measures.
Raise a toast to vodka with these three interesting cocktail recipes.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on March 24 a plea by K Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, seeking protection from arrest and challenging the summons by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case arising out of the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
As opposition leaders like the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Janata Dal-United supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed solidarity with Kejriwal on Saturday and renewed calls to speed up opposition unity efforts to take on the BJP, officials said the CBI may ask the AAP chief about the policy formulation process, especially of the "untraceable" file which was earlier slated to be put before the Delhi Council of Ministers.
The CBI inquiry was recommended on Delhi Chief Secretary's report filed earlier this month, showing prima facie violations of GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009 and Delhi Excise Rules-2010, they said.
Senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra on Monday claimed vehicles of the party workers headed towards Surat to extend support to Rahul Gandhi were stopped by the Gujarat Police.
The AAP claimed that Sisodia would be arrested on Monday and alleged the move was initiated in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in Gujarat where it is in a direct contest with the BJP.
The outlet, 'Silly Souls Cafe and Bar', was at the centre of a raging controversy after the Congress last week alleged Union minister Smriti Irani's daughter was linked to the property, a charge rejected by the minister.
The agency will also record Kavitha's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
AAP leader Vijay Nair, arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy case, received Rs 100 crore in 'kickbacks' from the 'south group' controlled by some businessmen and politicians, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has informed a local court.
"I am telling you that one crore people are drinking ( alcohol) in the state. All of you people vote for BJP, we will offer you cheap liquor at Rs 75. If the revenues are good we will even supply at just Rs 50, (not bad liquor), definitely a good one," Veerraju said indirectly pointing to high prices of liquor in the state.
Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh has promised to establish an Islamic Bank for the Muslim community of Andhra Pradesh on coming to power.
The ED will probe if there were alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy unveiled in November last year.
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