Excise scam: Delhi court allows liquorgate accused Dinesh Arora to turn approver

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday allowed businessman Dinesh Arora to turn to approve in the liquor gate scam involving Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had moved to court on November 7 seeking its permission to turn Arora as an approver in the case.

Following the application, the businessman moved a petition seeking pardon in the case, stating that he was ready to make "true disclosure voluntarily."

Arora has already recorded his statement under Criminal procedure Code section 164 in the matter. The CBI has accused Dinesh Arora of receiving a Rs 1 crore bribe from a liquor manufacturer on behalf of Sisodia.

As per the FIR, co-accused Sameer Mahendru transferred an amount of Rs 1 crore to the bank account of Radha Industries which is managed by Arora.

Arora had told the court that there is no pressure or threats by the central agency or anyone else. He was also granted anticipatory bail by the court after the probing agency did not oppose his plea.

Apart from Sisodia, CBI has also named the then excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna, the then deputy excise commissioner Anand Kumar Tiwari, assistant excise commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar, nine businessmen and two companies as accused in the case.

All the accused were booked under IPC sections 120B (Criminal conspiracy) and 477A (Falsification of accounts) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The liquorgate scam is related to alleged violations of protocols and procedural lapses in the execution of the now-scrapped Excise Policy 2021-22. Last month, the CBI raided 31 places including the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The central agency alleged Buddy Retail Pvt Limited director Amit Arora, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey are "close associates" of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia and were "actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from liquor licensees" for the accused public servants.