Sisodia sent to CBI custody till March 4 in excise policy scam

NEW DELHI: A special CBI court on Monday sent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to five-day CBI custody till March 4, in the multi-crore excise policy scam case. Judge M K Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court allowed the CBI’s plea for custodial interrogation after hearing hour-long arguments by the lawyers of Sisodia and the investigative agency. 

The court directed the CBI to interrogate the minister only at a place where CCTV cameras are placed, in order to avoid the apprehension of force used on him. Sisodia will be medically examined every 48 hours and his wife will be able to meet him for 15 minutes every day. His lawyers are allowed to meet him every day for half an hour between 6 pm and 7 pm.

The CBI had arrested Sisodia on Sunday after eight hours of questioning in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, which was allegedly tweaked to benefit certain liquor traders linked to the AAP. Special public prosecutor Pankaj Gupta, appearing for the CBI, argued that Sisodia gave evasive replies during questioning and sought five days’ custody for an effective probe. The CBI also alleged that the minister destroyed three of his four mobile phones. 

Sisodia’s lawyer senior advocate Dayan Krishnan said all the changes in the policy were duly approved by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and that the central probe agency was going after an elected government. He also contested the CBI’s claim that the minister has not cooperated with the probe, saying; “Not confessing does not mean not cooperating.”

AAP holds nationwide protests

AAP on Monday held protests in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Jaipur, Srinagar, Jammu, Kolkata, and other cities against Sisodia’s arrest, alleging it was done to divert attention from the Adani issue