The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Manish Sisodia in the excise policy irregularities cases. The order was issued by a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan. The court imposed several conditions, including the surrender of Sisodia’s passport and restrictions on influencing witnesses.
The bail was granted during a hearing of Sisodia’s appeal against the Delhi High Court’s denial of his bail request in cases investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing the investigating agencies, expressed concerns about potential witness tampering, citing evidence of Sisodia’s destruction of phone records.
ASG Raju criticized Sisodia for filing various miscellaneous applications, which he claimed delayed the trial. He also argued that Sisodia was deeply involved in the scam and not an innocent person targeted for political reasons. In response, Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, representing Sisodia, highlighted that Sisodia had already spent 17 months in custody, nearly half of the minimum possible sentence in the case, and countered allegations about the profit margins involved in the policy.
The Supreme Court had previously allowed Sisodia to revive his bail plea after the final charge sheet was filed. Sisodia was arrested in February 2023 by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy. The policy was withdrawn following opposition allegations of foul play. Sisodia remains in judicial custody, with the CBI asserting that he played a key role in the criminal conspiracy related to the policy’s formulation and implementation.