<p>New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended till January 8 the interim bail granted to Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who was arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam.</p><p>A bench of Justice Swarnkanta Sharma passed the directions on Pillai's plea seeking the relief due to his wife's illness.</p><p>Advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for Pillai, urged the high court to extend his interim bail, claiming that after being discharged, his wife has developed further complications.</p>.ED arrests Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Pillai in Delhi liquor policy case.<p>On December 18, a trial court had given a two-week interim bail to Pillai, after he said his wife has to undergo a surgical procedure.</p><p>Pillai was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 6 following allegations that he represented the "South Group" at meetings with other accused when the 2021 excise policy was being formulated and implemented.</p><p>The excise policy was scrapped last year after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.</p><p>The ED has claimed that Pillai is a close aide of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and the frontman of the "South Group" liquor cartel.</p><p>It has alleged that the "South Group" paid kickbacks of around Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to gain a larger share of the liquor market in the national capital under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.</p>
<p>New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended till January 8 the interim bail granted to Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who was arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam.</p><p>A bench of Justice Swarnkanta Sharma passed the directions on Pillai's plea seeking the relief due to his wife's illness.</p><p>Advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for Pillai, urged the high court to extend his interim bail, claiming that after being discharged, his wife has developed further complications.</p>.ED arrests Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Pillai in Delhi liquor policy case.<p>On December 18, a trial court had given a two-week interim bail to Pillai, after he said his wife has to undergo a surgical procedure.</p><p>Pillai was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 6 following allegations that he represented the "South Group" at meetings with other accused when the 2021 excise policy was being formulated and implemented.</p><p>The excise policy was scrapped last year after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.</p><p>The ED has claimed that Pillai is a close aide of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and the frontman of the "South Group" liquor cartel.</p><p>It has alleged that the "South Group" paid kickbacks of around Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to gain a larger share of the liquor market in the national capital under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.</p>