ED attaches assets worth over Rs 52 crore of Manish Sisodia, others

The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 52 crore of arrested AAP leader Manish Sisodia, his wife and some other accused in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach among others immovable properties (worth Rs 7.29 crore) comprising two assets of Manish Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia, land/flat of another accused Rajesh Joshi (director of Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd.) and land/flat of Gautam Malhotra.

The attachment also includes movable assets worth Rs 44.29 crore including bank balances of Manish Sisodia worth Rs 11.49 lakh, Brindco Sales Pvt. Ltd. (amount of Rs 16.45 crore) and others, the agency said in a statement.

The total attachment value is Rs 52.24 crore, the ED said.

Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, was arrested by the ED in this case in March and he is currently in judicial custody.

It is alleged by the ED and the CBI that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.