The Manish Sisodia bail case saw fireworks in the Supreme Court. In the four and a half hour long hearing in the alleged Delhi liqour policy scam case, the apex court unleashed a volley of tough questions to the investigative agencies.
The Supreme Court said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has to establish an unbroken chain of evidence linking Sisodia with the liquor lobby. The bench also enquired about the proof against Sisodia.
Agencies had made a case that money had been received by Manish Sisodia. The Court asked how it reached him from the liquor group. There is no visible money trail, the Court said. “You have taken two figures, ₹100 crore and ₹30 crore. Who paid them this? Where is the proof? Dinesh Arora himself is the recipient. Where is the evidence? Except for the statement of Dinesh Arora, is there any other evidence?” Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked.
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Justice Khanna further quizzed: “Manish Sisodia is not involved in all this. Vijay Nair (another accused) is there but Manish Sisodia is not in this part. How will you bring him under the money-laundering act? Money laundering is entirely a different offence. So till the proceeds of crime come, the PMLA case doesn’t come.”
The bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti was considering two petitions filed by Sisodia. The petitions have challenged the decisions of the Delhi High Court, which had denied him bail in connection with the investigations being conducted by the CBI and the ED in the alleged scam.
The hearing gains relevance because AAP MP Sanjay Singh was also arrested and taken into ED custody in the same case. If proof in the case is not forthcoming, the overall case might weaken. It would also put the investigative agencies and government in the dock for initiating action without substantial proof.
Sisodia has been in jail for the last eight months and the ED and CBI have yet to produce any evidence to substantiate its charges.
Former minister in the Kejriwal government, Satyendar Jain, was also arrested by the ED in May last year in a case of money laundering through four companies linked to him. Jain was granted interim bail till October 8 on medical grounds. In his case too, evidence is wanting.
If these cases are anything to go by, will the Chandrababu Naidu case also take a similar turn?