Excise Case: Delhi HC grants six weeks bail to businessman Sameer Mahendru

New Delhi [India], June 12 : The Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim bail to Delhi-based businessman Sameer Mahendru, one of the accused in the money laundering case pertaining to the now scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy, for a period of six weeks on medical grounds.
The bench of Justice Chander Dhari Singh in the order said, "Health condition of a human being deserves utmost importance and the right to health is one of the most significant dimensions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Every person has a right to get himself adequately and effectively treated. The exercise of discretion of the grant of bail is not to be exercised only as a last resort rather freedom is a cherished fundamental right."
Hence, in view of the health conditions of the petitioner/Sameer Mahendru the medical records being furnished on behalf of the petitioner and the same being verified by the ED as authentic, the non-denial of the condition of the petitioner which is worse than the co-accused who has been granted regular bail, and on the perusal of all other precedents this Court finds that the petitioner is suffering from life-threatening diseases warranting immediate medical attention and post-operative care, he added.
This Court has also appreciated the other factors as required to be considered while granting bail to an accused. It is evident that there is nothing on record to show that the liberty granted to the petitioner has been misused by him during his previous interim bails and neither has he been found to be an absconder, said the order.
Appearing for Sameer Mahendru, Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa stated that the petitioner has a precarious health condition, is sick and infirm and dependent on specialized medical treatment for his well-being.
Further, the petitioner must have continuity in treatment and he needs to be in constant supervision and care of his family members and requires an attendant in case he is sent back to custody, it would not be possible for him to continue with the treatment and providing with the level of care, and supervision he requires.
Along with Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, Advocates Dhruv Gupta, Manik Dhingra and Prabhav Ralli also appeared for Sameer Mahendru in the matter.
Earlier in February the trial Court had also granted interim bail to businessman Sameer Mahendru on medical grounds and said, "Sameer Mahendru is granted interim bail for undertaking surgery for removal of his gallbladder stone and also for undergoing MRI and other diagnostic tests and treatment for his back pain and other ailments.
On December 20, 2022, the trial court took cognizance of a Prosecution Complaint (Chargesheet) filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case revolving around an excise policy case. The Chargesheet was filed against businessman Sameer Mahendru and four firms.
The court took cognizance of the offence of money laundering as defined U/S 3 r/w Section 70 of the PMLA, 2002 and as made punishable U/S 4 of the said Act is hereby taken by this court and since sufficient grounds exist for proceeding further in the matter against all the five accused, they are directed to be summoned to appear and face trial before this court for the above-said offence, though some further investigation with regard to the other persons/entities involved in the case and to trace out the balance proceeds of crime is still stated to be pending.
Court noted that it was alleged in the said case that huge kickbacks through hawala channels were paid by a few persons in the liquor business from South India to some public servants of the ruling AAP and of the Excise Department of the GNCTD to achieve the objectives of monopoly and cartelization between three components of the said policy, i.e. liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, by violating provisions and breaking the spirit of the stated policy and these kickbacks were to be returned back to the above persons from South, either out of profit margins of the wholesalers or through credit notes issued by the wholesalers to the retail vends owned or controlled by such persons from South.
"It has been alleged that the profit margin of the wholesalers was initially kept high at 12% to ensure payment of around 6% portion thereof to achieve the above illegal objective and even records and books of accounts of the licensees were falsified for the said purpose", noted the court
The ED and the CBI had 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.
The FIR in the case was instituted on a reference from the Union Home Ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.