No immediate relief for Manish Sisodia as Supreme Court defers hearing on his bail plea to September 4

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 4

Lodged in jail for more than five months, former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia failed to get any relief on Friday from the Supreme Court which adjourned for a month hearing on his petitions seeking interim bail in corruption and money-laundering cases arising out of the 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 – said it would consider his interim bail plea along with the regular bail application on September 4.

The Bench asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to clarify how the money trail was established against the accused. Noting that it wasn’t clear from the affidavits filed by the probe agencies, Justice Khanna said, “When you (Raju) argue regular bail, I want a clear-cut picture on how money trail was established.”

On behalf of Sisodia, senior counsel AM Singhvi urged the top court to grant interim bail on humanitarian grounds to enable him to take care of his ailing wife.

As the Bench pointed out that the CBI said she had been suffering from the illness for the past 20 years, Singhvi submitted that she had been suffering from a degenerative disease which was progressing and there was no one else to take care of her. Singhvi – who had earlier submitted that Sisodia’s wife was suffering from an “extreme” medical condition – said she was admitted to hospital in June and July.

To the ASG’s suggestion that she should undergo an independent evaluation by doctors at the AIIMS, the Bench said probe agencies cannot insist so as long as she was consulting a reputed doctor.

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 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.