Hyderabad businessman Sarath Reddy turns approver in ED's excise policy case

NEW DELHI: Hyderabad businessman Sarath Reddy has turned approver in the Enforcement Directorate's case against former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia and others accused of rigging the Delhi excise policy of 2021-22 in favour of a cartel controlled by Hyderabad-based "South Group".
Reddy, a director in Aurobindo Pharma, had last month moved a special court here seeking to turn approver and said he was "ready to make true disclosure voluntarily" about organising and handling alleged kickbacks in the case. The special court of judge M K Nagpal, through an order of May 29, allowed him to turn approver in the politically sensitive case in which the enforcement agency has arrested 12 people, including senior AAP functionary Vijay Nair.
Currently out on bail, Reddy, the ED claims, was allegedly a partner with Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavitha in South Group, the close-knit coterie which Sisodia, according to the agency, entrusted with handling the liquor trade in the capital.
On Tuesday, AAP had described the agency's chargesheet against Sisodia as "completely fake" and "complete fiction".
Sarath Reddy is a key partner in cartel, claims ED in chargesheet
The statements of Hyderabad businessman Sarath Reddy, a director in Aurobindo Pharma who has turned approver in the ED's case in the Delhi excise policy probe, and any evidence and the involvement of other accused can create complications for former deputy CM Manish Sisodia as well as TRS MLC K Kavitha, who, the ED claims, is the proxy investor in Indo Spirits through frontman Arun Pillai.
According to the ED's recent chargesheet, Reddy, a participant in South Group's meetings at Kavitha's Hyderabad house, was the main funnel for kickbacks to AAP functionaries. "Sarath Reddy and others led by the South Group cartel gave kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore through Vijay Nair (former communication head of AAP). These advance bribes were later recouped through the web of multiple retail zones, and Indo Spirits as the wholesaler was recovering the payments made in advance," the ED claimed in the chargesheet, which has since been taken cognisance of by the court.
"Manish Sisodia conspired with members of South Group through Vijay Nair to receive kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore and passed on undue benefits to private entities," the ED chargesheet against Sisodia said.
"Manish Sisoda... assisted and facilitated in formation of Indo Spirits as a vehicle to recoup and launder the proceeds of crime, which then acquired the L1 wholesale licence by the acts of conspiracy and in lieu of kickbacks," the ED further said. The chargesheet described Reddy as a key partner in the biggest cartel (South Group) of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of liquor. According to the ED, partners of this cartel included Sameer Mahandru, who owns liquor manufacturing units, and Pernod Ricard, one of the biggest manufacturers in the country. PRI had Indo Spirits as its wholesale distributor, co-owned by Mahandru, fellow accused Arun Pillai and Prem Rahul Manduri.