NEW DELHI: AAP leader and former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail in the excise policy scam case being probed by the CBI.
The plea will be heard by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma. On March 31, a Rouse Avenue special court dismissed Sisodia’s bail petition, saying he was “prima facie the architect” and played the “most important and vital role” in the criminal conspiracy relating to the alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in Delhi govt.
The CBI arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 on February 26, following several rounds of questioning. While refusing to give relief to Sisodia, special CBI judge M K Nagpal said he played the “most important and vital role in the above criminal conspiracy” and was deeply involved in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy to ensure the achievement of objectives of the said conspiracy.
“The payment of advance kickbacks of around `90-100 crore was meant for him and his other colleagues in the GNCTD and `20-30 crores out of the above are found to have been routed through the co-accused Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and approver Dinesh Arora.....
“....certain provisions of the excise policy were permitted to be tweaked and manipulated by the applicant to protect and preserve the interests of South liquor lobby and to ensure repayment of the kickbacks to the said lobby,” the trial court had observed in the 34-page-long order. It had also said Sisodia’s release may adversely affect the ongoing investigation.
The development came even as a court on Wednesday adjourned for April 12 the arguments on the incarcerated AAP leader’s bail application in the money laundering case lodged by the ED against him, even as his judicial custody was extended till April 17.
Arguing against the bail petition, ED told the court that its investigation was at a ‘crucial’ stage and it has found fresh evidence of his complicity. Efforts by this newspaper to get a comment from Vivek Jain, listed as Sisodia’s lawyer in the HC petition, did not bear fruit.