Excise case: ED to question Sisodia in Tihar Jail; one more businessman arrested in case
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to question and record the statement of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday as part of its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the excise policy matter, official sources said.
The federal probe agency also made a fresh arrest in this case as it took into custody Hyderabad-based liquor businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai on Monday evening, they said.
The ED investigators will reach the Tihar Jail around noon to record the statement of Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.
He is lodged in judicial custody till March 20.
The ED obtained the court's permission to question the 51-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who till recently was the deputy CM of Delhi, in the cell number 1 of the jail.
The agency is expected to question him about the alleged change and destruction of cellphones that were in his possession and the policy decisions and the timeline followed by him as the excise minister of Delhi. These charges were made by it in its supplementary complaints filed before the court.
The ED may invoke section 19 of the PMLA, that allows it to arrest people involved or accused in the case, if the investigation officer has "reasons to believe" that the person is "guilty" of the offence of money laundering.
The CBI, during its custody of Sisodia, had confronted him with his former secretary C Arvind and then Excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna in connection with alleged manipulation of the excise policy.
Sisodia was not mentioned as accused in the charge sheet of the CBI filed in the case on November 25 last year.
It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers, who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped and the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe following which the ED booked a case against the same accused under the PMLA.
The ED has informed the court through its charge sheet that its probe found that at least 36 accused, including Sisodia "destroyed, used or changed" 170 phones to conceal evidence of "kickbacks" worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.
It had also named Sisodia's boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the second charge sheet filed in the case early this year, claiming that C Arvind, a DANICS officer who was earlier secretary to Sisodia, recorded his statement under the PMLA saying he was given the GoM report on the excise policy in the middle of March, 2021 when he was called by his boss (Sisodia) to the residence of Kejriwal.
In a linked development, Arun Pillai was taken into custody under the criminal sections of the PMLA on Monday evening following a long session of questioning.
Pillai is a partner in a company called Robin Distilleries LLP whom the ED had said represented the 'south group' alleged liquor cartel linked to Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao's MLC daughter K Kavitha and others. He is also linked to arrested liquor businessman Sameer Mahandru, his wife Geetika Mahandru and their company Indospirit Group.
He will be produced before a local court where the ED will seek his further custody for interrogation, they said.
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SEBI must name 'big players' profiteering at expense of small traders in F&O trading: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Sep 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said 90 per cent of small investors have lost Rs 1.8 lakh crore in Futures and Option (F&O) trading in three years and asked the SEBI to reveal the names of the "so called big players" profiteering at their expense.
More than 91 per cent, or 73 lakh, individual traders lost money in the F&O segment in FY24 with an average net loss of Rs 1.2 lakh per person, a study conducted by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revealed on Monday.
Further, 93 per cent of over 1 crore individual F&O traders incurred average losses of about Rs 2 lakh per trader (inclusive of transaction costs) during the three years from FY22 to FY24. The aggregate losses of such traders exceeded Rs 1.8 lakh crore during the period.
Gandhi, who is the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on X, "Uncontrolled F&O trading has grown 45X in 5 years. 90% of small investors have lost ₹1.8 lakh Cr in 3 years."
"SEBI must reveal the names of the so called 'Big Players' making a killing at their expense," the former Congress chief said.
The study said in FY24 alone, individuals incurred about Rs 75,000 crore in net losses.
It found the top 3.5 per cent of loss-makers -- about 4 lakh traders -- faced an average loss of Rs 28 lakh per person over the same period, inclusive of transaction costs.
On the other hand, only 7.2 per cent of individual F&O traders made a profit over the period of three years and only 1 per cent of individual traders managed to earn profits exceeding Rs 1 lakh, after adjusting for transaction costs.
Moreover, the number of retail traders, or individual traders, has almost doubled in two years to about 96 lakh in FY24 from about 51 lakh in FY22.
Although such investors contributed about 30 per cent to the total turnover in FY24, they are a clear majority in number terms, as 99.8 per cent of total traders in the equity F&O segment are individuals.
"The availability of sophisticated trading platforms and lower transaction costs have enabled retail investors to actively trade in options and futures contracts, contributing to the surge in market liquidity," SEBI said.
The regulator said rapid growth in F&O trading activity has highlighted the need for investor education and risk management practices, as a significant proportion of retail traders continued to incur losses in the market.
Uncontrolled F&O trading has grown 45x in 5 years.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 24, 2024
90% of small investors have lost ₹1.8 lakh Cr in 3 years.
SEBI must reveal the names of the so called “Big Players“ making a killing at their expense.
