AAP Leader Manish Sisodia Urges Early Hearing on Curative Pleas for Bail in Supreme Court
Sisodia Seeks Review of Top Court's Decision in Delhi Excise Policy Scandal Case
Manish Sisodia, an AAP leader who is now in jail, requested an early hearing on his two curative pleas on Monday in the Supreme Court. He is contesting the court's 2023 decision to refuse him bail in connection with the corruption and money laundering proceedings pertaining to the purported Delhi excise policy scandal.
Senior attorney Abhishek Singhvi, standing on behalf of Sisodia, informed a bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that a trial judge has said that it would not consider the bail request till the curative is determined.
The bench said, "Just send an email, we will look at it."
A Delhi court noted that a similar issue was still pending before the Supreme Court, so it postponed hearing Sisodia's bail request.
Sisodia's arguments for a review of the top court's October 30 ruling rejecting his bail applications in the corruption and money laundering charges pertaining to the purported Delhi excise policy scheme were rejected on December 14, 2023.
The investigating agencies' claims that a small number of wholesale distributors obtained "windfall gains" of Rs 338 crore were "tentatively supported" by evidence, according to the top court, which granted him bail.
On February 26, 2023, Sisodia was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on suspicion of his involvement in the "scam".
On March 9, 2023, after interviewing Sisodia in Tihar Jail, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained him in connection with a money-laundering case arising from the CBI FIR. The Delhi cabinet was resigned by Sisodia on February 28, 2023.
The new excise policy was put into effect by the Delhi administration on November 17, 2021, however it was abandoned by the end of September 2022 due to accusations of corruption.
Under the new regulation, wholesalers' profit margin climbed from 5% to 12%, according to the investigative authorities.
According to the authorities, the new strategy led to cartelization and gave financial advantages to those who weren't qualified for liquor licenses. The Delhi administration and Sisodia, however, have denied any wrongdoing and said that the new policy would have increased income for the city government.
