Delhi excise scam: Manish Sisodia moves Delhi High Court for bail in CBI case

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia has approached the Delhi High Court against the trial court order denying him bail in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case related to the alleged Delhi excise police scam. .Sisodia's bail plea will be heard by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Thursday. .The trial court had rejected Sisodia's bail plea on March 31, Friday. In a detailed order, Special CBI Judge MK Nagpal had prima facie held that the former excise minister played the most important and vital role in the criminal conspiracy related to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy case. .Sisodia has been behind bars since February 26 when he was arrested by the CBI. Subsequently on March 9, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on allegations of money laundering. At present, Sisodia is in judicial custody both in the CBI and the ED case. His bail plea in the money laundering matter is part-heard before the trial court. .The agencies have alleged that Sisodia and other members of the AAP connived to grant liquor licenses to certain traders in exchange for bribes.It is their case is that the excise policy was tweaked and the profit margins were changed in a manner that benefited certain traders and kickbacks were received in exchange for the same..The ED and the CBI registered cases in relation to the alleged scam after Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe based on a report by the Delhi Chief Secretary. The report claimed that Sisodia violated statutory provisions and notified a policy that had significant financial implications.Although Sisodia was not named in the CBI's chargesheet, the probe remained open against him and some others.AAP has denied the allegations and maintained that Sisodia is innocent.It is Sisodia's stance that the policy and the changes made in it were approved by the LG and that CBI is now going after the policy decisions of an elected government.