Delhi Court Reserves Bail Order in Sisodia ‘Excise Scam’

The CBI and the ED filed bail requests for AAP leader Manish Sisodia in corruption and money laundering cases related to the purported Delhi excise policy case, and a judge in this city postponed deciding on the requests on Saturday.

After hearing arguments from the federal investigative agencies and Sisodia’s attorney, special judge Kaveri Baweja for the CBI and ED set aside the order for April 30.

To promote the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has filed temporary bail motions in both cases.

Sisodia’s attorney, however, informed the court today that the standard bail plea is being reserved, making the plea infructuous.

Both the CBI and the ED have claimed that irregularities were made when changing the Delhi Excise Policy, that license fees were waived or lowered, that licenses were extended without the consent of the appropriate authority, and that undue favors were given to license holders.

The investigating authorities have claimed that to avoid detection, the beneficiaries reportedly transferred “illegal” income to the accused officials and made fake entries in their books of account.

On February 26, 2023, Sisodia was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to his purported involvement in the “scam”.

In a money-laundering case resulting from the CBI FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained the former deputy chief minister on March 9, 2023.

The Delhi cabinet was resigned by Sisodia on February 28, 2023.