ED detains Amit Arora, Director of Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd., in the Delhi Excise case

Sources said on Wednesday that the Enforcement Directorate had arrested Amit Arora, Director of Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd, in connection with the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam, and that it is scheduled to bring Arora to a special court here later today and seek his permission to question him in connection with its pending investigation into the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 money laundering lawsuit.The Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the then Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari, and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar are among the accused in the case.officials said the ED had issued its first chargesheet in the case in July, listing several persons as culprits, including liquor businessman Sameer Mahandru.Following the detention of Sameer Mahendru, Managing Director of Delhis Jor Bagh-based liquor retailer Indospirit Group, the Enforcement Directorate detained Mahandru on September 27.

The ED and the CBI allege that contraventions were given to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced, and that the L-1 licence was extended without the appropriate authority's permission.The beneficiaries diverted illicit income to the accused officials and made false reports in their accounts to avoid detection, according to the Excise Department.According to the allegations, the Excise Department had decided to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules.Though there was no provision for it, a waiver of the tendered licence fee was granted from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, which was allegedly responsible for a Rs 144.36 crore loss to the exchequer, which was then imposed on a recommendation by Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.