Excise policy: SC reserves order on AAP leader Manish Sisodia's bail pleas

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 6 August reserved its order on pleas filed by AAP leader Manish Sisodia seeking bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

This follows the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) opposition to Sisodia's bail plea, with claims of evidence showing his deep involvement in the alleged scam.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan heard submissions advanced by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for Sisodia, and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who represented the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Justice Viswanathan noted, "The last chargesheet was filed on June 28. You mentioned to the Supreme Court that supplementary filings were pending. This suggests you believed the trial could not start until all chargesheets were filed. Now, to argue that the delay was due to Sisodia's actions seems inconsistent."

The judge also requested the ED to provide a realistic timeline for the trial’s conclusion.

During the hearing, the ASG argued that Sisodia’s plea was based on alleged delays he caused by filing unnecessary applications for documents, which were either not needed or already provided digitally. He claimed Sisodia should have applied for discharge if he did not want charges framed but chose instead to delay the process.

The ASG further contended that releasing Sisodia could lead to evidence tampering and witness intimidation.

Singhvi strongly disagreed, stating that most of Sisodia’s applications had been granted by the trial court. He argued that the claim of tampering was being raised for the first time to prejudice the court against Sisodia’s bail.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on 26 February, 2023, for his alleged involvement in irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. The ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on 9 March, 2023.

He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on 28 February, 2023.

Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, has sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 17 months and the trial against him has not yet started.

The ED and the CBI have opposed his bail pleas.

The ED has claimed before the apex court that it has documents to show Sisodia's "neck-deep involvement" in the alleged scam.

With inputs from PTI.