New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) 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.

A bench of Justice Swarnkanta Sharma passed the directions on Pillai's plea seeking the relief due to his wife's illness.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)