NEW DELHI: The Rouse Avenue Court on Monday permitted senior AAP leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, arrested in the Delhi excise policy case, to visit his wife Seema Sisodia who is suffering from multiple sclerosis, once a week while in custody.
The last time he was granted custody parole to meet his wife was during Diwali last year.
Special judge M K Nagpal also extended the judicial custody of Sisodia till February 22 when he was produced before the court on the expiry of his remand. The judge passed the order while adjourning his bail application in excise policy-related cases filed by the CBI and the ED, slating to hear his regular bail plea in both cases on February 12.
The AAP leader had approached the trial court with two applications, one for regular bail and another seeking parole to meet his ailing wife twice a week.
During the hearing, the judge asked whether the applicant’s (Sisodia) wife could visit him in prison with the help of an attendant, to which the latter’s counsel pointed out her inability to walk for extended periods due to her medical condition which affects the central nervous system.
“Her mind has started to lose over her body due to which she cannot walk over a few minutes,” it was submitted before the court. Senior counsel Mohit Mathur also submitted that Sisodia was earlier permitted to meet his wife by the court and there were no violations of any rules from his side.
Meanwhile, the central agencies, the ED and the CBI opposed any relief to Sisodia.
Earlier, denying bail to Sisodia, a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti of the apex court took note of the prosecution’s assurance that the trial would be concluded in six to eight months, saying if the trial continues at a “snail’s pace”, Sisodia may approach the top court again.
Sisodia, behind bars since February, 2023, in the alleged corruption case related to the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, was initially arrested by the CBI. Later, the ED too, on March 9, arrested him from Tihar Jail.
Wife gravely ill, unable to visit Sisodia in prison
During the hearing, the judge asked whether Sisodia’s wife could visit him in prison with the help of an attendant, to which the latter’s counsel pointed out her inability to walk for extended periods due to her medical condition which affects the central nervous system.
