 "Manish Sisodia")
A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till May 30 the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.
Sisodia is an accused in the probe related to the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February last year, following an eight-hour long interrogation in the case. A month later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also arrested him in the matter on March 9.
He is currently in judicial custody in both cases.
Delhi HC reserves order on Sisodia's bail pleas
The Delhi Rouse Avenue court’s decision came a day after the Delhi High Court reserved judgement on Sisodia’s both bail pleas.
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During the HC hearing, the ED also informed the bench that it intends to name the AAP as an accused in the ongoing liquor policy 'scam' case. “The AAP will also be made accused in the case and a supplementary charge sheet will be filed,” the agency told the court.
AAP rejects charges made by ED
The AAP has rejected the ED’s allegations as baseless. “The ED is functioning like a political wing of the BJP. Its intention from the very beginning of this fake investigation was to frame the AAP,” the party said in a statement, alleging political vendetta by the ruling dispensation on the issue.
Kejriwal gets bail by SC
Notably, Delhi Chief Minister and Sisodia’s colleague Arvind Kejriwal was granted an interim bail in the same case last Friday. The Supreme Court granted a conditional bail to Kejriwal till June 1 on the grounds of ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Kejriwal, who has been out on poll campaigning since his release, is barred from performing official duties, according to the court’s order.
The case pertains to the excise policy, which was introduced in November 2021. The policy was scrapped in September 2022, after Delhi Lieutenant Governor, V K Saxena, recommended a CBI probe in May that year, into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the policy.
