A Delhi court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, who was arrested in connection with irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2020-21.
Both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have filed cases against Sisodia.
Special Judge (PC Act) Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court noted that there was a concerted effort by the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and other co-accused to delay the trial in the liquor policy case.
The court observed that Sisodia and the other accused have been filing one or the other application/making oral submissions frequently, some of them frivolous, that too on a piecemeal basis.
The submissions were apparently a concerted effort to accomplish the shared purpose of causing a delay in the matter, it added.
Earlier in October 2023, while rejecting Sisodia’s bail application, the Supreme Court had said that he could file a fresh bail application before the trial court if the trial was protracted and proceeded at a “snail’s pace” in the next three months.
The Special Judge today said that the steady progress of the case despite ‘apparent attempts’ to slow down its progress could not, by any standards, be equated with a ‘snail’s pace’.
The court further rejected Sisodia’s submissions that he should be released on bail because of the poor health condition of his wife.
The trial court noted that the petitioner had mentioned in his application that there was nobody in the family except him to support his wife. However, this was factually incorrect as the applicant has a son who can take care of his mother.
Judge Baweja said that even otherwise, from the medical record of the applicant’s wife, as annexed with the application under consideration, it appeared that she has been suffering from the said ailment for a long time and has also been receiving requisite medical treatment and care for the same.
The application did not disclose any imminent or urgent need or any medical emergency warranting release of the accused on bail for this reason, it added.
The trial court further rejected Sisodia’s argument seeking parity with co-accused Benoy Babu.
The former Delhi Minister was represented by Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur and Advocate Vivek Jain. Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain appeared for the ED.