New Delhi, July 16 (FN Agency) The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking their responses on the bail plea of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the money laundering case linked to alleged excise policy scam. The bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai, Sanjay Karol, and K V Viswanathan, has scheduled the next hearing on July 29. Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Sisodia’s bail plea had been deferred on July 11 after Justice Sanjay Kumar recused himself from the case. Subsequently, a new bench was constituted by the Chief Justice of India. In a brief statement before the apex court, Sisodia’s advocate Vivek Jain requested bail, stating, “I (Manish Sisodia) have been in jail for 16 months. The trial is progressing at snail’s pace as it was in October 2023. The trial is moving slowly.”
The CBI had registered a case against Sisodia in connection with the alleged corruption in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, which was later scrapped following controversy. He was arrested on February 26, 2023. Previously, Sisodia’s bail pleas had been denied by the lower court, the High Court, and even the Supreme Court in both the ED and CBI cases. The Apex Court had also dismissed Sisodia’s review and curative petitions. The accused had filed a fresh application to revive the plea previously adjudicated by the court. In March, the lower court had rejected Sisodia’s bail plea, stating that he was prima facie the “mastermind” of the alleged scam. It was alleged that he played the “most important and vital role” in the criminal conspiracy related to the alleged advance payment of approximately ₹100 crore in bribes for himself and his associates in the Delhi government.