Excise scam: No relief for Manish Sisodia as HC dismisses bail pleas in money laundering, corruption cases

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in money laundering and corruption cases lodged by the ED and the CBI respectively in connection with the alleged liquor scam.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who started pronouncing the order at 6:28 pm for 22 minutes, said Sisodia allegedly indulged in the destruction of crucial evidence, including electronic evidence.

The high court said he was a very powerful and influential person within the power corridors of the Delhi government.

It said the material collected during the investigation showed that Sisodia prima facie subverted the process of making the excise policy by fabricating public feedback to suit his predetermined goal.

The high court had on May 14 reserved its order on the pleas after hearing arguments on behalf of the AAP leader, CBI and ED.

Sisodia has challenged a trial court’s April 30 order by which his bail pleas were rejected.

The trial court had dismissed Sisodia's bail pleas in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the CBI and ED respectively in connection with alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.

Meanwhile, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja on Tuesday extended Sisodia's judicial custody till May 31 in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on March 9 last year arrested the former deputy chief minister of Delhi.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier in the alleged liquor scam.