Liquor policy case: Delhi HC seeks ED's reply on Manish Sisodia's bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Enforcement Directorate to provide a response regarding the bail application of former deputy chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia.

According to a report by Live Law, the bail plea is related to a money laundering case that is connected to the implementation of Delhi's excise policy for the year 2021-22.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma has given notice regarding Sisodia's plea for bail and a separate application requesting temporary release based on the ill health of his wife.

In the court hearing, ED's representative Zoheb Hossain claimed that Sisodia played a crucial role in devising the excise policy and was therefore one of the main conspirators.

However, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan strongly opposed this claim, insisting that the probe agency should not be heard until they have filed a response.

The court then scheduled the matter for the next hearing on May 11, with Hossain stating that the ED will submit a response to both of Sisodia's bail applications within a week.

Justice Sharma will hear Sisodia's bail plea in the CBI case today at 12:30 PM. On April 28, Sisodia was denied bail in the ED case and is currently in judicial custody in both the CBI and ED cases.

The special judge had denied Sisodia bail in the CBI case on March 31.

Sisodia is presently in judicial custody in cases registered by both the CBI and the ED, and his bail plea was rejected by the special judge in the CBI case on March 31. He was also denied bail in the ED case on April 28.

The trial court rejected Manish Sisodia's request for bail in the money laundering case linked to an alleged excise policy scam, stating that Sisodia was not only the main conspirator but also "the brain behind insertion of clauses of 12% profit margin for wholesalers and of enhancement of eligibility criteria for wholesalers from Rs. 100 crores to Rs. 500 crores."

“This court is not inclined to grant bail to the applicant in 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 had said.

According to ED's allegations, the excise policy was put into effect as part of a plot to give certain private companies a wholesale business profit of 12%. It claims that the minutes of the meetings of the Group of Ministers (GoM) did not include such a provision.