In a money laundering case connected to the alleged excise policy scam, the Delhi High Court ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to answer the bail request made by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on May 4. The subject has been set for a further hearing on May 11, and the court has given the ED one week to provide a verification report.
Mr. Sisodia has submitted an application for interim bail as well as a regular bail petition, both of which mention his wife’s illness as justification. For the past 20 years, his wife has battled the degenerative disease multiple sclerosis, and her condition is only expected to get worse. Senior solicitors Dayan Krishnan and Mohit Mathur, who are Mr Sisodia’s legal counsel, have urged that Mr Sisodia must be released on bail due to the condition of his wife. The ED’s legal representative, however, has objected to the plea, claiming that Mr. Sisodia is the case’s main conspirator.
Mr. Sisodia has appealed the trial court’s decision to reject his April 28 bail petition in the money laundering case. He was implicated in the crime’s commission by prima facie evidence mentioned by the trial court. In the case brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is also scheduled for hearing before Justice Sharma, the court had similarly rejected his regular and interim bail requests.
Mr. Sisodia was detained by the CBI and ED on February 26 and March 9, respectively, for alleged corruption in the creation and implementation of the now-cancelled Delhi Excise Policy 2021–2022, as well as for allegedly laundering the proceeds of the policy. The trial judge had rejected Mr. Sisodia’s request for bail in the ED case, finding that the prosecution had made a convincing case for his involvement in money laundering at the outset. The ED had objected to the bail request, arguing that the inquiry was at a critical point and that the top AAP leader had planted forged emails to demonstrate popular support for the policy.