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Delhi liquor policy: Delhi court seeks ED, CBI response on Manish Sisodia plea for interim bail

AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia on Friday moved a Delhi Court seeking interim bail on the grounds of campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Manish Sisodia is currently in judicial custody in the alleged liquor policy scam case.

Delhi Rouse Avenue Court’s Special judge Kaveri Baweja sought response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the interim bail plea and listed it for hearing on April 20.

The direction was passed after Special counsel Zoheb Hossain appearing for ED as well as the counsel appearing for CBI sought some time to file replies in the matter. Advocate Vivek Jain appeared for Manish Sisodia.

The AAP leader was denied bail by the trial court, Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court in both ED and CBI cases. The top court had also dismissed Sisodia’s review petitions against the denial of bail. The former Deputy Chief Minister’s curative petitions have also been dismissed. The AAP leader’s second bail pleas are presently pending before the special judge.

The CBI and ED on February 26 and March 9 respectively arrested Manish Sisodia. The CBI in its FIR accused Manish Sisodia and others of being instrumental in recommending and taking decisions regarding the 2021-22 excise policy, without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensee post tender.

The nodal agency has also asserted that the AAP leader was arrested because he gave evasive replies and refused to cooperate with the investigation, despite being confronted with evidence.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has alleged that the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to give wholesale business profit of 12 percent to certain private companies, although such a stipulation was not mentioned in the minutes of meetings of Group of Ministers (GoM).

The investigation agency has also claimed that there was a conspiracy that was coordinated by Vijay Nair and other individuals along with South Group to give extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers. Vijay Nair was acting on behalf of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, as per the agency.

The deputy Chief Minister’s bail applications in both cases were declined by Special Judge MK Nagpal (now transferred) on March 31 and April 28 last year. The Delhi High Court then denied bail to the AAP leader in both cases after which he moved the Supreme Court challenging both these verdicts.

On October 30, 2023 the Supreme Court refused to grant bail to the former Delhi deputy Chief Minister.

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