New Delhi: Hyderabad-based businessman P. Sarath Chandra Reddy’s company, Aurobindo Pharma Limited – which was linked to the Delhi liquor policy case in which chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday (March 21) – donated electoral bonds worth Rs 5 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party in November 2022, just five days after he was arrested in the case by the Enforcement Directorate.
This information was first revealed by reporter Jahnavi Reddy and Project Electoral Bond, after the Election Commission released the unique numbers associated with each electoral bond on Thursday.
Aurobindo Pharma Limited was founded by Sarath Reddy’s father P.V. Ram Prasad Reddy, and Sarath Reddy is one of its directors.
When Sarath Reddy’s case came up for bail in the Delhi high court, the Enforcement Directorate did not oppose bail. In May 2023, the court granted him bail on medical grounds.
In June 2023, Sarath Reddy turned approver in the case. Two months later, the pharma company donated another Rs 25 crore to the BJP.
Before Sarath Reddy’s arrest, the company had donated money to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Telugu Desam Party through electoral bonds.
Opposition leaders including Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and BRS MLC K. Kavitha have been previously arrested in the case. Opposition parties have accused the Union government of using central agencies to stifle all dissent and political opposition in the country.
