The Supreme Court on Friday accepted AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s pleas seeking relaxation in bail conditions, which require him to report to the investigating officer every Monday and Thursday in the corruption and money laundering cases related to Delhi’s excise policy .
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan issued notices to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking their responses to Sisodia’s requests.
On August 9, the Supreme Court had granted him bail in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise scam. The long detention of seventeen months without trial had deprived him of his right to a speedy trial.
The apex court had imposed conditions, including that he must report to the investigating officer every Monday and Thursday between 10 am and 11 am.
During the hearing on Friday, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Sisodia, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has appeared before the investigating officers 60 times.
“I (Sisodia) am a respectable person,” the senior lawyer said.
Singhvi said the Supreme Court had imposed similar conditions on other accused in the case.
“The same ED has not raised any objection against all other suspects,” he said.
The bench said, “We will clarify it on the next date.”
“Termination letter, refundable for two weeks,” the top court said.
The former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi was arrested by both the CBI and the ED in corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged excise tax fraud in Delhi.
He was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023 for alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022.
The following month, the ED arrested him in the money laundering case arising out of the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023. He resigned from the Delhi Cabinet on February 28, 2023.
In its August 9 ruling granting bail to Sisodia in both cases, the Supreme Court had said it was high time that the trial courts and high courts recognized the principle that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception”.
“We find that due to a long period of incarceration of about 17 months and the trial not even having begun, the appellant (Sisodia) has been deprived of his right to a speedy trial,” the report said.
The top court had directed him to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the same amount.
It had ordered that Sisodia surrender his passport before the special court and not make any attempt to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence.
The top court had quashed the May 21 verdict of the Delhi High Court, which had rejected Sisodia’s bail pleas in both cases.
Leave a Reply