Excise scam: Delhi Court Permits Raghav Magunta to Act as Approver in CBI’s Excise Scam Case

Magunta Raghav Reddy, the son of Ongole MP for the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, has been granted permission by Delhi Rouse Avenue Court to act as an approver in the CBI case concerning Delhi’s excise policy case. In an order issued on Thursday, MK Nagpal, the special judge, granted Raghav’s request to be moved under 306 CrPC, which requested court approval to turn approver and grant pardon in the aforementioned case. In granting Raghav anticipatory bail, the court recently pointed out that neither the applicant, or Raghav, nor any organization connected to him or his family members were named in the formal complaint.

According to the CBI’s reply, he also participated in the case’s investigation and joined it as soon as he was called in for that reason. The Court observed that he is also alleged to have revealed certain important details in his declarations that were documented under Sections 161 CrPC and 164(2) CrPC. “It is further stated in the above reply that no instance of the applicant influencing any witness in this case has also been found during the course of the investigation, which is even relevant for the ongoing further investigation. Thus, in granting bail, the court stated, “The CBI has not objected to the applicant’s request for the issuance of anticipatory bail to him.”

In the Delhi excise policy money laundering case that the Enforcement Directorate is looking into, Raghav recently took on the role of approver. In addition, the court had granted him a pardon in the case and permitted his plea to be approved. Dinesh Arora, a businessman from Delhi, had previously approved the case. In the same case under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the court had declared Arora to be an approver. On February 10 of last year, Raghav was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the scam involving the Delhi excise policy.

ED earlier stated that Raghav is one of the key person in the conspiracy of cartelisation and kickbacks hatched along with various persons in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 scam. Raghav Magunta is the owner of liquor manufacturing units in the name of M/s Enrica Enterprises Pvt Ltd located in Chennai.
He controlled 2 retail zones in the name of M/s Magunta Agro Farms Pvt Ltd directly in contravention of the Excise Policy 2021-22, where a manufacturer was not permitted to hold either retail or wholesale operations.