The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally, accused in a money laundering case related to Delhi liquor policy, for four weeks on medical grounds.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta passed the interim order while hearing Boinpally’s Special Leave Petition filed against the July 2023 order of the Delhi High Court denying him bail.
The Court, while granting interim bail to Abhishek Boinpally, said that “the petitioner is to be released on interim bail for four weeks on health grounds from the date he is released on the terms and conditions fixed by the trial court.“
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that he has been in custody since October 9, 2022.
imposing certain conditions on the petitioner, the bench directed that Boinpally provide one telephone number, on which the officers of the Enforcement Directorate can contact him.
The Apex Court also directed Boinpally to surrender his passport, and he cannot leave the territory of the National Capital Region without the permission of the Court.
The Court, however, allowed the petitioner to travel to his hometown of Hyderabad.
The Court listed his matter with another case, Prem Prakash v. Union of India, stating that common legal questions are arising in both.
Boinpally, a former director of Robin Distilleries LLP and an alleged middleman are among the people who are being investigated in the Delhi Liquor Scam.
He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in October 2022. One month later, he got bail in the CBI case. However, this relief was short-lived, as at the same time, Special Judge MK Nagpal also allowed the Enforcement Directorate’s plea to take Boinpally into custody for five days in a money laundering case.
Last year, the Supreme Court granted bail to Benoy Babu, Regional Manager of Pernod Ricard India (an Indian subsidiary of a global liquor company), in the money laundering case in connection with the Delhi liquor policy after observing that there were certain contradictions between the allegations of the ED and the CBI.
In October 2023, the Supreme Court denied bail to Manish Sisodia, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, who is also an accused in the same case.
