Delhi High Court denies bail to Manish Sisodia in CBI and ED cases

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday denied bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in the cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the Delhi excise policy case. .Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma rejected the bail plea after noting that the prosecution had made out a prima facie case of money laundering under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).Sisodia's conduct amounts to "great betrayal of democratic principles", the Court said while rejecting his plea for bail.The Court also observed that Sisodia indulged in acts of destruction of crucial evidence including electronic evidence. In this regard, the single-judge referred to two mobile phones which were claimed to be damaged. The Court also took into account the fact that Sisodia was holding an important position in the Delhi government and handling multiple portfolios and that he being a senior leader of AAP, was an influential person."This court is of the opinion that petitioner has not been able to make out a case for grant of bail in his favour," the High Court said..The Bench further said that Sisodia used deceptive methods to show that the Delhi excise policy had public support but in reality, the policy was framed to enrich a few individuals. "This constitutes a form of corruption," the Court held. Justice Sharma said that the case involves great misuse of power and breach of public trust by Sisodia. The Court also said that the delay in the trial cannot be attributed to CBI and ED. However, the Court did not agree with the trial court's observations that all the accused in case have acted in concert to delay the trial. .Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023. He is being probed by both the CBI and the ED in relation to the Delhi excise policy case.The case involves allegations that Delhi government officials had connived to grant liquor licenses to certain traders in exchange for bribes. The accused officials are alleged to have tweaked the excise policy to benefit certain liquor sellers..The trial court had recently rejected Sisodia’s bail plea in both the CBI and ED cases against him, leading to the present plea before the High Court.This is the second round of bail applications filed by Sisodia.One round of bail applications was earlier rejected in 2023. Sisodia's bail plea in the CBI case was rejected on March 31, 2023. On April 28, 2023, the trial court rejected his bail application in the ED case.The Delhi High Court upheld the trial court orders and the same was upheld by the Supreme Court as well in October 2023.At the time, however, the Supreme Court had said that Sisodia could file for bail again if the trial progressed at a slow pace.He then moved a second round of bail pleas..Read detailed arguments made during the bail hearing here..Senior Advocates Dayan Krishnan and Mohit Mathur along with advocates Vivek Jain, Mohd Irshad, Rajat Bharadwaj, Karan Sharma, Rishkesh Kumar, Rajat Jain, Sadiq Noor, Mohit Siwach, Kaustubh Khanna, Shailesh Chauhan, Harsh Gautam, Kunal Raj Rishabh Sharma appeared for Manish Sisodia.ED was represented through its Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain as well as advocates Vivek Gurnani, Abhipriya Rai, Kartik Sabharwal, Hithash Raja and Sachin Sharma.CBI was represented through Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ripudaman Bhardwaj and advocate Kushagra Kumar..[Read Judgement]