Excise Policy case: Delhi HC allows Manish Sisodia to withdraw bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to withdraw his interim bail application which was filed on grounds of his wife's health condition.

The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Wednesday allowed Manish Sisodia to withdraw his interim bail plea. The hearing on the regular bail plea in Enforcement Directorate (ED) case was going on before the same bench.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju appeared for ED and said, "It is a mala fide withdrawal. They are withdrawing the interim bail plea after it was pointed out that Sisodia's counsels were suppressing facts. ED had told Court that his wife had already been discharged from the hospital when Sisodia moved an application for interim bail citing her health condition."

Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur appeared for Manish Sisodia and said, "Much water has flown under the bridge since then. His wife's condition is better now."

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia recently moved bail petitions in a money laundering case in connection with the excise policy.

Sisodia moved regular and interim bail pleas both in the Delhi High Court. He had moved interim bail on the basis of his wife's illness and sought six weeks' bail in that.

Earlier, the trial court dismissed his bail plea in the money laundering case being investigated by ED.

The Rouse Avenue Court while dismissing the bail plea of Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam stated that "this case of economic offences having serious repercussions upon the general public and society at large as the evidence collected during investigation speaks volumes of his involvement in the commission of the said offence."

The Court also noted that some evidence was also alleged to have surfaced during the investigation to show that some part of the kickback or bribe amount received from South lobby was spent or utilized in connection with the election campaign of the AAP in Goa. Further, some cash payments through hawala channels were alleged to have been sent to Goa for bearing the said expenses. The court said that even some fake invoices were alleged to have been created as a cover-up for the cash amounts transferred through hawala channels.

It was stated that the above cash transfers were made as per instructions of the coaccused Vijay Nair, who was the representative of Sisodia and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Court noted that Nair was the Media in charge of AAP and looking after the work related to said elections. He also roped in a company named Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd owned by the coaccused Rajesh Joshi to do the election-related advertising work and other jobs for the party during said elections, noted the court.

ED on March 9 arrested former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case, after hours of questioning at Tihar Jail.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier in its ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).