Excise Policy Scam: Manish Sisodia to remain in jail for now as his bail plea hearing deferred to October 4

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 15

The Supreme Court on Friday deferred to October 4 the hearing on the bail pleas of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in Delhi excise policy scam related corruption and money laundering cases even as his counsel accused the media of commenting on the merits of the case.

“Although I am in jail, we (both sides) have agreed. The hearing will take 2-3 hours at least on my side. This matter requires urgent attention,” senior counsel AM Singhvi told a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

As Additional Solicitor General SV Raju agreed to the adjournment request, the Bench posted the matter for hearing on October 4.

However, during the brief hearing Singhvi alleged that whenever the bail pleas of Sisodia or former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain came up for hearing, there were newspaper reports on the merits of the case.

The Bench responded by saying that it had not read newspapers.

Lodged in jail for more than five months, Sisodia -- a senior AAP leader -has failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court as there has been no substantive hearing on his petitions seeking interim bail in corruption and money laundering cases arising out of excise policy scam.

The CBI and ED registered cases against Sisodia after Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged excise policy scam on the basis of a report by the Delhi chief secretary.

Sisodia, who also held the excise portfolio among many as Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26.

Later, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him on March 9 in a money laundering case. He continues to be in custody since then.

He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28. Denying the allegations, Sisodia asserted that he’s innocent.

A Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna – which had on July 14 issued notices to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate on the senior AAP leader’s bail pleas – will now consider his interim bail plea along with the regular bail application on October 4.

The Delhi High Court had on May 30 denied bail to him in the excise policy scam case being probed by the CBI, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he is a “high-profile” person who has the potential to influence the witnesses.

On July 3, the high court had declined him bail in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the city government’s excise policy, holding the charges against him were “very serious in nature”.

Earlier, the High Court had on May 30 dismissed Sisodia’s bail plea in the corruption case related to excise policy scam probed by the CBI, saying he’s an influential person and the allegations against him were “very serious” in nature.

The probe agencies alleged that in collusion with others, Sisodia granted liquor licences to a group of leaders from the South in lieu of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore as the now-withdrawn excise policy of 2021-2022 was tweaked and profit margins changed to benefit these traders.

The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.

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#Central Bureau of Investigation CBI #Manish Sisodia #Supreme Court