Delhi excise 'scam': Court sends Manish Sisodia to ED custody till March 17
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday remanded former Delhi Deputy Chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for seven days (till March 17) in connection with its probe into allegations of money laundering related to the now-scrapped excise policy.
It may be recalled that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sisodia on February 26 in connection with the Delhi excise scam.
Now, the court has sent him to ED custody amid the hearing of his bail plea on Friday. However, he didn't get any relief on his bail application as it was adjourned to March 21.
During the course of the hearing, ED argued before the court that it needs to interrogate the complete modus operandi of the alleged scam and need to confront some key officials in this regard.
Aam Aadmi Party communication overseer Vijay Nair was coordinating the entire conspiracy, it was argued.
"Between key players from South group to Vijay Nair to kickbacks paid, the conspiracy was orchestrated by Nair and others from the south group including K Kavitha," ED's counsel Zoheb Hossain argued.
It further alleged that there was a political understanding between the Telangana MLC and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.
The South Group paid a kickback of nearly Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders, it was contended.
ED also claimed that Kavitha met Vijay Nair. He wanted to show how he can influence the policy. He was acting on behalf of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, it was argued by the central agency.
Regarding Sisodia's role in ensuring L1 licence to liquor company Indospirits, the ED counsel said At 'jet speed', the application came and was approved, and allocation was granted in a few days.
On the other hand, Sisodia's counsel Dayan Krishnan vehemently opposed ED's arguments.
On ED's allegations on the now-scrapped policy, Krishnan argued that elected governments lay down policy. It goes through various layers. It goes through the government, the bureaucrats, the finance, and law secretaries. The policy went to LG.
"We were to argue for bail today. I was never summoned by ED even once. My bail application was pending here. They questioned me and just a day before the hearing, they arrested me. ECIR is from Aug, 2022. This kind of conduct must concern a court," Krishnan submitted.