This is an archive article published on May 4, 2024
Delhi excise policy case: Man involved in alleged transfer of hawala money to fund AAP Goa elections sent to ED custody
The ED told the court that Vinod Chauhan, who was arrested on Friday, was part of a deep nexus with major conspirators such as BRS leader K Kavitha and certain AAP leaders.
Written by Nirbhay Thakur
New Delhi | May 4, 2024 05:04 PM IST
4 min read
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The Central agency told the court Chauhan (left), who was arrested on Friday, was part of a deep nexus with major conspirators such as Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader (BRS) K Kavitha and certain AAP leaders.
A Delhi court on Saturday sent Vinod Chauhan, the 18th person to be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case, to the agency’s custody till May 7. According to ED, Chauhan had transferred money via the hawala route for Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Goa elections and was in regular touch with the members of the ‘South Group’.
The Central agency told the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja that Chauhan, who was arrested on Friday, was part of a deep nexus with major conspirators such as Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader (BRS) K Kavitha and certain AAP leaders.
“Searches were conducted in Chauhan’s office. Rs 1 crore and Rs 6 lakh were seized. He could not explain the source for the same. He was holding this cash which was given by members of the ‘South Group’ for AAP,” ED’s special counsel Zoheb Hossain said, while requesting four days’ custody of Chauhan.
Outlining that Chauhan was involved in transferring proceeds of crime worth Rs 25.5 crore, the agency sought his custody to “unearth further material” in relation to the case.
Countering the ED, Chauhan’s lawyer stated that there was no need for sending him to ED’s custody. “I have always joined the investigation. Why have I been arrested?” the lawyer argued on behalf of Chauhan.
He also said that audited statements regarding the cash recovery had already been provided to the agency. “The sources of funds through the business have also been provided to them (ED),” he added.
Hossain, however, stated that Chauhan had given vague and unsatisfactory responses. “The Rs 1 crore seized was what was left. The rest of the proceeds of crime have already been transferred, consumed and used up,” added the special counsel.
The so-called ‘South Group’ is a group of individuals from South India which, the ED claims, “secured uninhibited access, undue favours, attained stakes in established wholesale (liquor) businesses and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy)”, and paid Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in return.
According to the ED, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was “directly involved in the formulation” of the excise policy, which was drafted “considering the favours to be granted to the South Group”.
One of the alleged members of the ‘South Group’ is former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha who was arrested on March 15. It was after Kavitha’s arrest that Kejriwal was named a conspirator in the excise policy case by the ED.
Two cases have been registered in relation to the excise policy — one by CBI, and the other, on alleged money laundering, by the ED.
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The case arose out of a report submitted by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, pointing to alleged procedural lapses in the formulation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. The policy came into force in November 2021, but was scrapped in July 2022.
The chief secretary’s report said that “arbitrary and unilateral decisions” taken by Sisodia in his capacity as excise minister had resulted in “financial losses to the exchequer” which is estimated at more than Rs 580 crore.
The ED alleged that the scam was to give the wholesale liquor business to private entities and fix a 12 per cent margin, for a 6 per cent kickback. In its first prosecution complaint in November 2021, the ED said the policy was “formulated with deliberate loopholes” that “promoted cartel formations through the back door” to benefit AAP leaders.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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