Excise policy row: Delhi court extends Manish Sisodia's judicial custody in CBI case till May 7

New Delhi, April 24 IANS) A Delhi court on Wednesday extended, till May 7, the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with a money laundering case related to excise policy case being probed by the CBI.  

Last week, Sisodia withdrew his interim bail application to campaign for his party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court had, in the previous hearing, reserved its judgement for April 30 on the regular bail pleas of Sisodia, an accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

He has sought bail in cases being probed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Appearing before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, Sisodia’s counsel, advocate Vivek Jain had said that the interim bail plea has become infructuous as the regular bail pleas are being reserved.

Special counsel Zoheb Hossain and prosecutor Pankaj Gupta had appeared for the ED and CBI, respectively.

Opposing the bail pleas, Gupta had said that Sisodia does not satisfy the rigours for the grant of bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Claiming the AAP leader has political clout, the prosecutor said that he is influential and not entitled to parity.

The central probe agency accused Sisodia of being the main accused in the case and said that he might tamper with the evidence of the probe, which is at a nascent stage on certain key aspects.

Gupta also noted that he hasn’t gotten bail from the high court and the Supreme Court.

Sisodia’s bail application has been pending since February.

His judicial custody was also extended in ED’s case till April 26.

Last time, the ED had contended that Sisodia and the other accused persons were delaying the trial in the case.

Citing the bail granted to another accused, Benoy Babu, Sisodia’s counsel Mohit Mathur had argued for Sisodia's bail, saying that he no longer holds a position of influence. He had also stressed that Sisodia met the triple test for bail, as outlined by the Supreme Court, and urged for a speedy trial. Mathur further said that Sisodia's eligibility for bail is established, given the fulfilment of all necessary conditions and the absence of any misuse of liberties, as per the Supreme Court's guidelines.

--IANS

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