Delhi High Court rejects bail petition of Delhi's former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia

The Delhi High Court dismissed the bail petition of Delhi's former Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia who was arrested earlier this year by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi government's excise policy.

The Court also rejected bail petitions of Vijay Nair, former communicator in charge of Aam Aadmi Party, Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally and Binoy Babu Binoy, (manager with a liquor company Pernod Ricard) in connection with the same case.

While refusing to grant relief to the AAP leader, the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said that the court does not find any illegality in the trial court order that had dismissed his bail.

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"The petitioner (Sisodia) is not entitled to bail and the petition is accordingly dismissed," it said.

"The possibility of tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out and Section 45 twin condition isn't satisfied. Bail Denied," said the court.

Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI in the month of February for his alleged role in the scam and has been in custody since then.

He resigned from his position following the arrest, terming the accusations against him as 'false' and said it was unfortunate that he was framed despite working honestly for the last eight years.

"It is unfortunate that despite working with honesty and truthfulness continuously for eight years, corruption charges are being levelled against me. I and my God know that all these allegations are false," Sisodia said in his resignation letter to Arvind Kejriwal.

"These allegations are in fact nothing more than a conspiracy of cowardly and weak people who are scared of Arvind Kejriwal's politics of truth. I am not their target, you [Kejriwal] are their target. Because today not only Delhi but the people of the whole country are seeing you as a leader who has a vision for the country and the ability to bring big changes in the lives of the people by implementing it," he added.

The high court already denied bail to him in the CBI case in the month of May. On June 2, the court had reserved its order on his bail plea. Sisodia hassought bail on grounds including his wife's deteriorating health condition.

The ED has opposed the bail plea of the ex-deputy CM as well as of the others accused.

What is the excise policy scam?

The AAP government had brought in the excise policy to revolutionise the sale of liquor in Delhi by bringing in more private players. The rationale given was that the new policy will help generate optimum revenue while eradicating bootlegging and the sale of spurious liquor.

However, corruption in the distribution of permits, bribery and fraud in the funnelling of tender amounts meant that the initiative collapsed within a year.

It has been alleged that AAP leaders formulated the policy at the peak of the pandemic to create illegal channels of funding.

The anti-corruption branch of CBI questioned Sisodia over his alleged links with Dinesh Arora and other accused mentioned in the FIR.

(With inputs from agencies)

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