NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday directed officials to preserve the May 23 CCTV footage of the court premises after AAP leader Manish Sisodia alleged he was manhandled by security personnel that day during his production in a case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
The police also moved an application seeking court’s permission to produce Sisodia only via video conference, after he levelled the allegation. The police favoured Sisodia’s virtual production contending that bringing him to court “creates chaos” due to the presence of AAP supporters in the corridors.
Special Judge M K Nagpal, after taking note of both applications, directed Sisodia’s production through video conference pending his decision on the prayers. He was produced before the court on Thursday via video conference. The AAP leader was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case related to the alleged scam on March 9 from Tihar Jail where he is currently lodged in judicial custody.
The 51-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader was first arrested by the CBI, which is probing alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy. In its nearly 270-page supplementary charge sheet which has annexures running into 2,000 pages, the ED has called Sisodia a “key conspirator” in the case.
In the previous charge sheets, the anti-money laundering agency said the liquor policy ‘scam’ was a “conspiracy” hatched by some of the big political leaders of the AAP and the so-called ‘South Group’ comprising BRS leader K Kavitha, YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and others who used “proxies and dummies” to conceal their involvement.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based businessman P Sarath Chandra Reddy has turned an approver in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam, after a Delhi court allowed his prayer to that effect and granted him pardon. Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is also an accused in the case. The development may compound the legal woes of other accused in the case, including Sisodia, a towering leader of the AAP, the only regional political outfit that runs governments in Delhi and Punjab.
‘Will expose the South Indian episode of scam’
The BJP said that Rouse Avenue court’s order in the excise scam will increase the troubles for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and jailed AAP leader Manish Sisodia. The reaction came after the court on Thursday pardoned Sarath P. Reddy – the key accused in the excise scam and allowed him to become an approver in the case. BJP Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva said it is now certain that the South Indian episode related to this scam will be exposed soon. “ It will not only expose Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia’s roles but also that of. K. Kavita daughter of the Chief Minister of Telangana,” added Sachdeva. He also pointed out a controversy, where the AAP alleged that the Delhi Police manhandled Manish Sisodia inside the court’s premises. He said that the ‘ weekly rhetoric gimmick’ of Sisodia will be stopped now as he will be produced through video conference in the coming days.