NEW DELHI: The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday opposed senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas before the Supreme Court in corruption and money-laundering cases linked to the excise policy scam, saying that documents showed his neck-deep involvement in the scam.
“Sisodia is not an innocent person picked up for political reasons… He is neck-deep in the scam,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju told a Bench led by Justice BR Gavai.
Raju said Sisodia’s petition for revival of his bail pleas was “not maintainable” and that he should go to the trial court for bail.
On behalf of the former Delhi Deputy CM, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said there were 493 witnesses and 69,000 pages of documents in the corruption and money-laundering case and it would take a long time to conclude the trial. “Why should I (Sisodia) be in jail after 17 months is the larger liberty question… What’s the purpose of keeping me behind bars?” Singhvi wondered.
“Where do you draw the line between policy and criminality?” asked the Bench, which deferred the matter to next week as arguments remained inconclusive.
The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which now stands scrapped.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the “scam” and he resigned from the Delhi Cabinet two days later. The ED arrested him in a money-laundering case related to the scam on March 9, 2023, after questioning him in Tihar Jail.
The former Delhi Deputy CM who has been denied bail by the top court in the past has sought to revive his petitions in the cases. He has sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 16 months and the trial against him has not made any progress since October 2023.