Delhi High Court refuses bail to Manish Sisodia in money-laundering case

Manish Sisodia

The Delhi High Court on July 3 dismissed former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia's bail plea in an excise policy case, upholding the decision of a lower quote to deny relief to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.

The case pertains to charges of money laundering probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of the wider investigation into the alleged liquor scandal, which forced Sisodia, who held multiple portfolios,  to resign as deputy chief minister of Delhi.

Dismissing the bail plea, the single-judge high court bench said the special judge's order denying bail to Sisodia was well reasoned and it didn’t see a reason to interfere with it.

The court also denied bail to Abhishek Boinpally, AAP member Vijay Nair and Benoy Babu, the co-accused in the excise policy case.

On May 30, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma had denied bail to Sisodia in the case filed by the CBI. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 23 and on March 9 by the ED. He is currently in judicial custody.

The CBI arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 following several rounds of questioning.

Sisodia, who also held the education portfolio, is one of the 15 accused named by CBI in its First Information Report (FIR) registered on August 17, 2022.

The agency initiated the probe on the recommendation of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena, who alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-withdrawn excise policy.

The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.