Excise Case: Delhi Court sends Arvind Kumar Singh to remand till May 18
May 15, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 15 : The Rouse Avenue Court on Monday sent Arvind Kumar Singh, the then commercial head of a Noida-based private news channel to CBI remand till May 18.
He was arrested recently arrested in connection with the ongoing Delhi excise police case.
The CBI accused Singh was involved in the Hawala money trail from June 2021 to July 2022.
Singh was Monday produced before Special Judge MK Nagpal on Monday after the end of his CBI remand.
After noting the CBI submission, the court extended his CBI remand till May 18.
"This court is of the considered opinion that some further custodial interrogation from the accused is required and his confrontation with the other documentary as well as digital evidence, which has come on record during the investigation of the case, is also required. Therefore, he is being further remanded to the custody of CBI till May 18," the court noted.
CBI submitted that during the period of 2 days of CBI custody, the accused was further interrogated and confronted by some witnesses, but his confrontation is still at the initial stage and it will take some time.
It has also been submitted that the mobile phone of the accused has already been taken into possession. Some incriminating data in the form of Whatsapp chats and calls have been found from the said mobile phone. He is also required to be confronted with the above digital and other documentary evidence seized during the course of an investigation conducted so far.
According to the CBI, the investigation qua him is still at a nascent stage and adequate time and opportunity are required to be given to the Investigation officer to conduct it and to comprehensively interrogate the accused and to question him with regard to all such oral and documentary evidence that has surfaced against him so far.
The ED and the CBI have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval.
The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.
An alleged, the Excise Department had decided to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to COVID-19.
This allegedly caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer, which has been instituted on a reference from the Union Home Ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
