Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia brought to Rouse Avenue Court for the hearing. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on May 7 extended the judicial custody of former Deputy Chief minister of Delhi and AAP leader Manish Sisodia till May 15 in CBI case related to Excise Policy case, ANI has reported. The Court also fixed May 15 for further arguments on framing of charges in the case.
Previously, Mr. Sisodia’s bail application had been rejected on April 30, and he has since then moved the Delhi High Court. He has been in jail since February 2023 in connection with a case pertaining to the Delhi excise policy scam. His bail was first rejected on March 31, 2023. On April 28, the trial court rejected his bail application in the ED case.
The Delhi High Court upheld the trial court’s orders and so did the Supreme Court.
Intiated by the L-G
The case against Mr. Sisodia is based on a FIR initially filed by the CBI on a complaint by the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi alleging multiple irregularities in the Delhi excise policy-2021-22, which was subsequently withdrawn by the state.
After the CBI case, the ED filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging that the money earned through the excise policy was diverted through “hawala” channels to be spent on the AAP’s campaign in Goa ahead of the Assembly elections there in 2022.
The CBI and ED have made multiple arrests in this case in the last two years including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP’s RS MP leader Sanjay Singh, communications head Vijay Nair, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha.
Mr. Kejriwal and Ms. Kavitha are in jail and their bail applications are pending with different courts, Sanjay Singh was released on bail on April 3.