Hyderabad businessman moves Delhi court to retract ‘coerced’ confession

HYDERABAD: In a surprise move, Hyderabad businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai approached a Delhi court on Friday to retract his confession to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He alleged that the statement was forcibly taken by the investigators, using duress and coercion.

In the confession Pillai had stated he represented the benami investments of K Kavitha in the Indospirits company in the Delhi excise policy case. This was one of the key statements that ED was relying on to nail Kavitha.

Pillai's application for retraction before the Rouse Avenue court came just a day before Kavitha, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and legislative council member, was to appear before ED officials in Delhi. The court has now issued notice to ED for a reply.

ED had alleged that Pillai not only represented Kavitha's interests, but also acted on her instructions. He was accused of being behind kickbacks allegedly paid to AAP leaders and formation of what is known as the South Group. Pillai has a 32.5% stake in Indospirits, which had got an L1 licence.

On paper, Pillai had invested Rs 3.40 core in the company. ED had arrested Pillai on March 9. The investigation agency had claimed that based on the instructions of Kavitha, Pillai collected money from her acquaintances and invested in Indospirits.

T his is the second such retraction in case. In November 2022, Aurobindo Pharma non-executive director Sarath Chandra Reddy’s staffer, E Chandan Reddy, had retracted his statement to ED.

Chandan, Aurobindo Realty & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd’s vice-president, had given a statement that became the basis for Sarath Reddy’s arrest. Chandan had later claimed that ED officials had beaten him up to get his statement. He said he lost his hearing in one ear and was hospitalised because of this.