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Court was told today that Nair has been incarcerated for 23 months, and the maximum possible sentence for the charges against him under Sections 3 and 4 PMLA was seven years
The Supreme Court today has granted bail to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair in connection with the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case related to the Delhi excise policy scam.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, has observed that right of liberty under Article 21 is sacrosanct and requires to be respected even in cases where stringent provisions are enacted.
It was further noted that Nair had been in custody for 23 months and is incarcerated as an undertrial.
Last year, while observing that Vijay Nair was a close associate of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, the Delhi High Court had denied him bail. The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said, "The accused person (Vijay Nair) in the present case, acting in furtherance of a conspiracy, circumvented the policy and got framed the policy in such a way that to continuously generate and channel illegal fund".
On February 16 last year, Special Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court, Delhi, had denied bail to Vijay Nair and four others in a money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy Case. Observing that “allegations are quite serious”, the court had denied bail to Nair, Sameer Mahendru, Abhishek Boinpally, Sarath Chandra Reddy, and Benoy Babu.
It is to be noted that a Delhi court in January this year had granted interim bail for two weeks to former AAP communications in-charge, in the Delhi excise policy money laundering case, citing medical reasons.
Vijay Nair had been taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 13, 2022.
Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have alleged irregularities in the modification of the Delhi Excise Policy 2020-21, including the extension of undue favors to license holders, the waiving or reduction of license fees, and the extension of licenses without the requisite approval from competent authorities.
The prosecution contends that the beneficiaries diverted illicit gains to accused officials and falsified entries in their financial records to evade detection. As the case unfolds, Nair's interim bail offers a respite on medical grounds, subject to strict adherence to the court's stipulated conditions.
Case Title: Vijay Nair vs. Directorate of Enforcement
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