Excise scam: CBI, ED oppose Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas before Supreme Court; say he’s neck-deep involved in scam
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, August 5
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday opposed senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas before the Supreme Court in corruption and money-laundering cases linked to the excise policy scam, saying, documents showed his neck-deep involvement in the scam.
“Sisodia is not an innocent person picked up for political reasons… He is neck deep in the scam,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju tells a Bench led by Justice BR Gavai on behalf of the probe agencies.
Raju said Sisodia’s petition for revival of his bail pleas was “not maintainable” and that he should go to the trial court for bail.
On behalf of the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said there were a total of 493 witnesses and 69,000 pages of documents in the corruption and money laundering case and it would take a long time to conclude the trial. “Why should I (Sisodia) be in jail after 17 months is the larger liberty question… What’s the purpose of keeping me behind the bars?” Singhvi wondered.
“Where do you draw the line between policy and criminality?” asked the Bench which deferred the matter to next week as arguments remained inconclusive.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money-laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 which now stands scrapped.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the ‘scam’ and he resigned from the Delhi cabinet two days later. The ED arrested him in a money-laundering case related to the scam on March 9, 2023, after questioning him in Tihar Jail.
The former Delhi Deputy CM – who has been denied bail by the top court in the past – has sought to revive his petitions in the excise policy scam-related corruption and money-laundering cases. He has sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 16 months and the trial against him has not made any progress since October 2023.
Holding that the possibility of evidence-tampering by him can’t be ruled out, the Delhi High Court had on May 21 dismissed Sisodia’s bail pleas.
Sisodia challenged the high court’s order but the Supreme Court which on June 4 refused to entertain his bail pleas in corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in connection with the excise policy scam.
During the June 4 hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that the chargesheet/prosecution complaint in the liquor policy case would be filed on or before July 3, 2024 and the top court had granted Sisodia liberty to revive his prayers for bail after the filing of the final complaint/chargesheet.
