On February 27, a Delhi court, while acquitting all 23 accused in the liquor policy case, questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation for “designating” a group of alleged liquor dealers from South India as a “South Group” in its charge sheet.
A court has acquitted former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia, as well as Telangana politician K Kavith and 20 others, in the high-profile corruption case known as the Delhi Politics Scam.
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Special CBI court, while dismissing CBI and ED cases in Delhi liquor policy, questioned the conduct of the two investigative agencies for relying only on the statements of approvers who were pardoned in the cases.
“The court finds it necessary to record its concern over the repeated and deliberate use of the term ‘South Group’ by the investigating agency to describe a group of accused persons, ostensibly on the basis of their regional origin or place of residence,” said the order of Special Judge Jitender Singh. Rouse Avenue Court.
“If the same charge was filed in a Chennai court, it would be seen as offensive,” the judge observed during Friday’s hearing.
“Such a nomenclature has no basis in law, corresponds to no legally recognizable classification, and is completely foreign to the legal framework governing criminal liability.”
North vs South?
In the subtitle ‘Use of the phrase ‘Southern Group”’, it is equally significant that no comparable regional descriptor was used for the remaining accused persons; the indictment description makes no mention of any “northern group” or similar categorization.
“A designation based on regions has an avoidable undertone and can create a damaging impression. It detracts from the well-established requirement that criminal proceedings remain impartial, evidence-based and insulated from extraneous considerations,” he added.
However, such a reference, the court said in the order, cannot be construed as an endorsement or approval of the terminology itself.
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“The continued use of this designation, despite the absence of any legally tenable basis, carries a real risk of coloring perception, causing unintended prejudice and distracting from the evidentiary material,” the judge said.
Link to the Dominican Drug Dealer case
The court cited a 2000 case (State v. Cabrera) where US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit “treated the issue as going to the roots of a fair criminal trial.”
The US court “went so far as to set aside the conviction itself due to the repeated use of identity-based terminology… where such identity had no bearing on the elements of the offence,” said the Delhi court order seen by LiveMint.
The US court “went so far as to set aside the conviction itself due to the repeated use of identity-based terminology … where that identity had no bearing on the elements of the offence”, the Delhi court order said.
“The government’s repeated references to the defendants as “Dominican drug dealers” were incorrect. The ethnic or national origin of the defendant is not relevant for proving the elements of the crime. Such references invite the jury to draw impermissible inferences based on nationality rather than evidence and risk invoking bias rather than reason,” the US court order said, as quoted by the Delhi court order on Friday.
term “Dominican drug dealers” is a phrase that has been used in some criminal cases – particularly in the US – to refer to groups of drug smugglers involving individuals of Dominican nationality or descent.
What was the “South Group” or “South Lobby”?
The ‘South group’ – or ‘South Lobby’, according to CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) documents – was the label given to a group of liquor traders, mostly from South India, who allegedly paid kickbacks to key Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in return for favorable treatment under the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.
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The agencies alleged that the funds were channeled through hawala transactions and shell companies that eventually funded the AAP’s election campaign in Goa.
K Kavitha, Telangana politician and daughter of former Chief Minister To Chandrasekhar Raowas among those named in connection with this alleged group. She was arrested by the ED in March 2024 and spent months in custody before being released on bail.
The continued use of this label… carries a real risk of coloring perceptions, provoking unintended prejudices and distracting attention from the evidence.
Investigating agencies said members of the ‘South Lobby’, who sought to sway politics in their favor with exorbitant profits for liquor wholesalers, stayed at a hotel in the state capital from 14
During their stay, they allegedly met Vijay Nair, a suspected middleman who struck a deal with liquor traders to formulate policies in their favour. The CBI also got hold of two policy proposals that were discussed in chats between members of the southern lobby, officials said.
Nair, AAP spokesperson, who was arrested in the case, was released on bail in September 2024 High Court.
