 "Delhi liquor policy case: Manish Sisodia gets bail after 1.5 years in jail")
Manish Sisodia gets bail in liquor policy case: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in two cases linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
The court was hearing pleas filed by Sisodia, who was seeking bail in both the cases lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering and corruption.
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan granted bail to the senior Aam Aadmi Party leader, setting aside the Delhi High Court order of May 21. “Appeal allowed. Delhi High Court order is quashed and set aside. He is granted bail in both ED and CBI cases,” the court ordered. The court also observed that refusal to grant bail cannot be a punishment mechanism.
“Truth alone triumphs,” the AAP’s official ‘X’ handle said in a post, reacting to the verdict. “The prayers of the people of Delhi were successful, breaking the web of lies and conspiracies. The father of the education revolution Manish Sisodia will come out of jail after 1.5 years,” it said.
Sisodia had approached the apex court for the third time after the HC dismissed his bail pleas in the case. He has been allowed the bail subject to Rs 2 lakh bail bonds and is required to surrender his passport to and report to the police station, as bail conditions.
Sisodia, who was arrested in February 2023, will walk out of jail after 17 months. The HC’s May order was after Sisodia had challenged a trial court’s April 30 order.
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Notably, the CBI filed its final charge sheet in the case on July 29, in which Sisodia was not named as an accused. The agency named Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five others, including AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak.
The liquor policy case pertains to the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22.