Vijay Nair arrested by CBI; first arrest in Delhi government liquorgate scam

Vijay Nair has been arrested by the Central Burau of Investigation in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022 on Tuesday, September 27. Nair was called to CBI Headquarters and was arrested after questioning. He was arrested for conspiracy, 'cartelisation' and 'chosen licensing'. 

The CBI, in its First Information Report (FIR) on the liquor scam, had named 14 accused, including Vijay Nair. The accused no.1 was Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia. According to the FIR filed by CBI, Nair is the only person not linked to politics, non-bureaucrat and non-liquor business owner in the list of the accused. He was the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a Mumbai-based entertainment and event management company named Only Much Louder (OML).

However, it is learned that he worked as a ‘part-time volunteer’ of the AAP, in the run-up to the 2020 Delhi State Legislative Assembly polls. During his stint with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, he helped organise party events and manage social media handles.

Nair was “actively involved in irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD of Delhi for the year 2021-22,” the FIR stated.   

BJP, post Nair's arrest attacked the AAP government. The national spokesperson of the party, Shehzad Poonawalla  asked Kejriwal 'Who is Vijay Nair?'. Poonawalla said, "Another “Kattar Imandar” like Satyendra Jain, Manish Sisodia, Amanatullah Khan? Do shed some light on the middle man who was collecting money from Liquor Mafia to fund AAP coffers for Punjab elections.."

Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022

The FIR was filed after consent from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which after receiving the letter of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi said in a notification, "The competent authority has decided that the matter may be referred to the CBI for a thorough enquiry."

In the letter in question, Vinai Kumar Saxena, referring to the report by Chief Secretary of Delhi, stated, "After the approval of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 on 24.05. 2021 and consequential amendments in statutory rules on 31.05.2021, various major decisions/actions have been taken and executed by the Department with the approval of the Minister-in-Charge in violation of the statutory provisions and the Notified Excise Policy, which have financial implications and are in the nature of extending undue favour to the licensee 'post tender'."