Delhi Liquor Policy Case: Arvind Kejriwal’s Arrest Linked Pharma Bought BJP Electoral Bond (image-facebook/Aurobindo Pharma Limited Committed to Healthier Life )Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in the Delhi liquor case by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21. Last week on March 15, BRS leader and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter was also arrested alleging a role in money laundering in the same case.
The electoral bond details which were made public on Thursday revealed the uncanny connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy case. The news minute reports that the company whose director is Kavitha’s co-accused and who eventually turned out to be an approver in the Liquor Policy case donated an amount of Rs 5 crore worth of electoral bonds to the Bharatiya Janata Party, just four days after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.
P Sarath Chandra Reddy, a Hyderabad-based businessman is one of the directors of Aurobindo Pharma Limited. The company was founded by Sarath Chandra Reddy’s father PV Ram Prasad Reddy. In connection with the liquor scam case, ED arrested Sarath Chandra Reddy on November 11, 2022. Reddy is the executive director of the firm.
On November 15, his company bought electoral bonds worth Rs 5 crore and all of them were encashed by the BJP soon after. The Aurobindo pharma gave another Rs 25 crore to the BJP. In total, the company has bought electoral bonds worth Rs 52 crore out of which Rs 34.5 crore went to BJP. The company has also donated Rs 15 crore to Bharat Rashtra Samiti and Rs 2.5 crore to the Telugu Desam Party.
When the Aam Aadmi Party implemented the policy in 2021-22, the ED accused Sarath of playing a key role in moving kickbacks in the liquor licensing process. Sarath and Kavitha were among several individuals from the Telugu states whom the Enforcement Directorate has referred to as the “South Group”. The agency has alleged that the amount was paid to gain control over the liquor business in Delhi, and the money was then used by the AAP during the Goa Assembly election 2022.
On June 1, 2023, a Delhi court allowed Sarath to turn approver in the case along with Two other members of this group, YSR Congress Party’s MPM Sreenivasulu Reddy and his son Raghav and Delhi-based businessman Dinesh Arora.